


A Recorded Life

by alltimelilly



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), F/M, Kinda AU, LadyNoir - Freeform, Marichat, Youtube AU, a little angst down the line, a lotta fluff, adrienette - Freeform, far down the line, only a few years tho
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2019-12-07 06:07:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 42,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18230966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alltimelilly/pseuds/alltimelilly
Summary: Marinette Dupain-Cheng and her friends are in their final year of Lycee (High School), and they are all 18 years old. Marinette has a very busy life between trying to graduate from school, help in her parent’s bakery, and protect France. On top of it all, she is also a very popular YouTuber who creates fashion videos and vlogs. As her popularity increases, she has more to deal with, including how her fans react to everything in her recorded life.





	1. 1 - Are We More Like Ladybug or Chat Noir?

**Author's Note:**

> omg. I had this idea from a headcanon I created a few months back and I haven’t really stopped thinking about it. I also didn’t really think I was ever going to post it, but why not give it a shot to see if people like it. This is the first part, so it is really a big introduction to how everything works in this lil AU. If I post more, it does get less introductory and becomes more of a story haha. I have a few more parts written, but it is nowhere near done! Let me know if you would like to see more :)
> 
> NOTE: Canon from season 3 does not apply in this story unless stated otherwise, as this is being written at the time of season 3 being released.

"Hey guys, I'm Marinette!" She began the video. "And welcome back to my second channel. You may notice the person sitting next to me..." Marinette gestured. "Alya's back. Like she is in almost every video over here."

Alya smiled and waved. "Hey, guys! Guess what I convinced her to do today," Alya winked. "Well, you probably read the title. We're quizzing to see if we're more like Ladybug or Chat Noir."

"Which I don't totally understand because do we actually know them?" Marinette asked, hoping she wouldn't get Ladybug.

Alya rolled her eyes. "So, if you're from a different country, or have never seen the news, or never even watched a video without me in it, Ladybug and Chat Noir are the superheroes and protectors of Paris. They protect us from the villain Hawkmoth, trying to collect their powers and take over the world. Or something. We only know he wants their powers, we don't know why," Alya shrugged. "But forget about Hawkmoth! Let's take the quiz."

Marinette giggled at her excitement. "Alya runs a blog that follows all things Ladybug and Chat Noir. I'll leave a link on her face, and in the description," Marinette reminded. "First question?"

"When confronted with an Akuma, what do you do? Punch it without a second thought, run away screaming, come up with a plan, or make a pun?" Alya asked. "Wait, I can't tell which one would be Chat Noir?"

Marinette glared at the camera. "He would make a pun," She said, getting a confused look from Alya. "Remember when I had to work with him for the Evillistrator? And when he ran up to me after Puppeteer turned you back into Lady Wifi?  _Oh my god_ , the puns!" She groaned. "I would probably," Marinette stopped for a second. She didn't know if she should tell her initial instinct, or try to stay away from the Ladybug answers. "Probably run away screaming."

Alya cocked an eyebrow. "You'd probably come up with a plan to take the Akuma out, Mari, be honest here," Alya said and clicked the one she didn't choose.

"Now, if your best friend was in danger, would you: let someone else save them, find a way to save them yourself, record it for the internet- okay, that one would probably be me if it were anyone but you- call for help, or work with your partner to get them out," Alya asked. "Speaking of, where were you when the Pharaoh tried to sacrifice me to the Egyptian gods?"

Marinette's jaw dropped. "Hey! I told you, I got caught in a time slow bubble. It was terrible!" Marinette defended herself, but little did she know she actually  _did_  save her best friend. "Considering Nino would probably be there too, since you really only get in danger when tracking down Ladybug and Chat Noir, we would have to work together to save you,"

"That's fair."

The questions continued and Alya kept calling Marinette out whenever she answered incorrectly. "You got Ladybug; I knew you were more like her!" Alya said.

"Why do you say that? I'm clumsy, and stutter sometimes, and I'm just not like her," Marinette shrugged. "I'm not even like Chat Noir. His confidence is insane, and I'm nowhere near that."

Alya put the phone down. "Girl, you sell yourself short. You're the class president; you stand up for people, you're creative. Those all sound like Ladybug things, don't they?" She raised her eyebrow. "I think that's all we have for today, right, Mari?"

"Yeah, thanks for watching! Other social media and information in the description, see you in the next video!" Marinette ended the video.

She edited out the part where Alya gave her reasons why she was like Ladybug. She cut it off at "Girl; you sell yourself short." Marinette watched the video she was editing for what the hold have been the fiftieth time, to make everything was done right or wasn't dull, but she had to postpone the editing. She set her main channel video to upload, and transformed into her alter ego to meet Chat Noir.

Marinette had a small, contained YouTube channel for a few years. It was popular, thanks to her incredible talent and young age, people enjoyed watching!

"Hey, Chat," Ladybug called when she saw him on the roof, sitting down and laughing. Even though they had been partners for two years, and now older, she still got a little nervous when starting patrol.

"Hey, Bug!" Chat Noir said. "You know Marinette, right? That girl you had me watch over because of an Akuma about a year ago?"

Ladybug nodded. "Yeah...why?"

"She has the best YouTube channel."

Marinette was flattered, but also confused. Chat Noir watched her YouTube? "She's...pretty cool," Ladybug walked closer and sat next to him. "I didn't think you would be one to be interested in a designer."

"Oh yeah, she's so talented! And her videos are great. I love watching the sped up designs and watching them all come together," He gushed. "But her second channel is just as good. It's more relaxed, and I guess you could say her main channel is the more professional side, but the second channel is where she does a bunch of videos with her friends. And look at this one!" Chat Noir showed her his baton, which was somehow connected to YouTube. Marinette recognized the video, as it was one of her most popular. It was the video Nino suggested when he asked "What's in your sketchbook? I've never seen everything, and I'm really curious."

And of course, Alya thought it would make for a perfect video.

Alya was behind the camera when Marinette recorded it, making some comments that would add to the comedic point. "Look, she said this one was inspired by me!" He paused the video and pointed to the design Marinette spent way longer on than she'd admit.

"That's awesome, Chat!" Ladybug said, a smile plastered on her face. She only wished she could thank him formally for all this gratitude, but she couldn't reveal herself. "When I see her next, I'll relay your love."

A smile flashed across Chat Noir's face, and he closed his baton. "Don't worry, milady, my heart beats for only you."

"Charming," She smirked. "Let's go; I've got a thing to do after patrol!" She said and swung her yo-yo. Chat Noir chuckled, but followed anyway.

\---

Marinette edited her video until she was sure it was perfect. Even if it was for her second, less popular channel, she wasn't going to put out less than quality content.

Since she got home at nearly midnight after patrol, and edited for an hour and a half, she was exhausted.

Marinette, about to fall asleep at her computer (which she has done before), clicked the YouTube shortcut and set her video to process (and hopefully upload) while she slept.

She was expecting to wake up to her alarm, or the sun hitting her eyes, or her mom yelling that she was late for school. Instead, Tikki was screaming and jumping in an attempt to get her up.

"Something's outside!" She said, pointing to the window. Marinette was hoping it would be morning, but it was still dark.

"Shh," She told the Kwami and slowly got out of bed. Marinette peaked out of the window, not seeing anything. Deciding it was safe, she walked up the ladder and opened the hatch. "Is someone out here?"

It was cold, and Marinette was only in her pajamas, so she wrapped her arms around herself to try to warm up. "I swear...if she woke me up because it was wind, or a bird-" Marinette stopped her mumbling when she heard something move. "Hello? Please, it's too late for this. I'm too tired to kick ass-"

"Please don't call the cops," The black figure landed in front of her.

"Chat Noir? It's the middle of the night! What are you doing here?" Marinette whisper yelled.

Chat Noir looked down at the ground. "I was patrolling with Ladybug about an hour ago, and I didn't want to go home, so I was just walking. I saw something strange in the window and decided to take a look. It was bright red and seemed to be glowing- I thought it was something that wanted to-"

"It was probably just my...cat," Marinette said. "Yeah, he heard something outside and nudged me. His collar is red and reflects some of the lights I have in my room so it wouldn't surprise me if that's what you saw," Marinette nodded, hoping her lie would go unnoticed.

Chat Noir nodded and stepped up to the ledge. "Well, as long as you're safe," He said. "I should be off," He got ready to jump away. "Oh, I don't know if Ladybug told you, Marinette, but I love your videos," He flashed a smile and jumped away.

"Thank you!" She called after him, unsure of if he heard her.


	2. 2 - This Debate Might Ruin Our Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A year ago, Marinette’s videos grew drastically. Today, her friends are still wrapping their head around it. Even though they fight about it a lot, Alya and Nino will never stop debating over the better superhero, and Marinette just so happens to catch it on camera.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, everyone, who read and commented on my first chapter! It really took a lot for me to upload the first part but I'm really glad people enjoyed it!  
> This part is REALLY based off my headcanon, so a lot comes from there. This one’s fun and really introduces some more things that may happen in upcoming parts ;)

ONE YEAR AGO

_"Marinette!" She nearly fell out of bed when she heard the familiar scream of Alya opening her trap door to her room. "Holy shit! Marinette, I'm going to die," Alya squealed as she failed to keep herself calm._

_"What's going on?" Marinette asked quickly. "Is there another Akuma out to get you?"_

_Alya shook her head with the biggest smile. "No! Look!" Alya said and shoved her phone into Marinette's face after she got out of bed._

_JAGGED @JaggedStone_  
_Do you rockers remember the little lady who made my album cover and usually helps me out in Paris? She's got an excellent Youtube channel with a bunch of creative videos. Marinette's a very talented girl and you'd be super uncool if you didn't check her out! www.youtube.com/user/MarinneteDesigns_

_JAGGED @JaggedStone_  
_@MarinetteDC let's make a video next time I'm in Paris! We have some wacky stories. Keep up the rockin awesome work!_

_Marinette almost fainted when she read the tweets, but Alya caught her. "It gets better," She warned and clicked on the link to Marinette's channel. She turned it around again, and Marinette tripped over nothing, followed by a scream._

_"There is no way that's real!" Marinette caught her breath. "You're pranking me, totally. Okay, show me the camera; you got me."_

_Alya shook her head slowly. "No, Marinette, this is real. You have 1.3 million subscribers."_

_Again, Marinette screamed and had to sit down so she wouldn't fall. It might have felt a little stupid or crazy, but tears began to well in her eyes. Views on every video skyrocketed and she got so many lovely comments about everything. Even her less used second channel grew and gave her much more motivation to post the other and funny videos more times a week._

_Marinette pulled out her phone while tears slowly went down her face and went live on Instagram to her, now high, follower count. "Hi guys, Marinette here," She said, breathing slowly to control her emotions. "I just woke up about three minutes ago to Alya barging into my room. Oh my god, overnight I gained a million subscribers. This is unreal; I can't believe it. Jagged Stone, thank you so much for helping me get my designs out to more people. I love making the videos I make; whether it be designing or the silly videos I do with my friends, this is so awesome. I've been doing this for about two years now, and I can't believe that I went to bed just hitting two-hundred-thousand subscribers, and now I have 1.3 million. I have so much more motivation from all the support and love I'm recieving, so expect more videos coming out very soon!" Marinette smiled so wide her cheeks were beginning to hurt._

_"I'm going to help crank those videos out!" Alya jumped in frame. "This is crazy," She pointed to how high the viewer count was._

_"I'm sorry to make this so short, but I just woke up and I am still in shock and still believing this is a dream. I need to process everything, too. Oh my god, thank you to everyone and Jagged Stone so much! I'll see you in my next video!"_

_And Marinette got to work cranking out more and more videos each week. More went to her main design channel, only a few to her second channel with random videos. But in a matter of a few months, she had a system down when to upload to both channels and she worked every day. Balancing school, two youtube channels, and saving Paris, Marinette had a lot on her plate. But she made it work._

_\---_

PRESENT DAY

Marinette was eating her lunch and had her computer out, editing a new video. She had her headphones on and didn't even notice her friends come up to the table she was at.

"Marinette!" Alya shouted, making her friend jump and her headphones fell off.

"Alya, those are expensive headphones!" Marinette screeched as she picked up the headphones she used to edit.

The group laughed a bit before Marinette set the headphones down and looked to the group. "What video are you working on now?" Nino asked.

"This one is a small tutorial on how to make a simple skirt. I'm trying to edit it then later I have to do a voice over," Marinette explained. "It's been requested for a while."

Alya raised her eyebrow. "Marinette, no," She slowly closed the laptop, even if Marinette was protesting. "You need to eat more than an apple. Give editing a break and eat lunch."

"But today's my upload day!"

Adrien laughed. "Don't you upload every day?"

"Technically, no," She said. "I upload three things onto my main channel weekly, and about two things to my second channel weekly," Marinette told him. "But as today is Tuesday, it's time to edit for my video for tomorrow on my main channel."

Alya pulled out her phone and showed Adrien the schedule. "See, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are main channel uploads. Tuesdays and sometimes Saturdays are second channel uploads," Alya said. "But she works every day."

"You do what you have to to get paid!" Marinette shrugged.

"Don't I know it," Adrien agreed, and put out his hand for a fist bump. And slowly, Marinette bumped his fist.

Marinette put her laptop into her bag and proceeded to eat her lunch. Alya started freaking out about Ladybug and talking about how awesome she is- while Nino was disagreeing.

The argument went on for two minutes before Marinette pulled out her camera and started to record. "I don't understand how you think Chat Noir is better than Ladybug! I mean, I love them both, a lot.  _But_ , Ladybug has the better powers. She is the one who saves the day! She turns everything back to normal! She fixes all the messes Hawkmoth puts Paris in," Alya argued.

"But look at Chat Noir. His power is awesome! Being able to destroy something with one touch, I would love that. And he can easily get rid of villains weapons to defeat them easier!" Nino argued.

Alya raised her eyebrow. "Ladybug is the reason why we don't have villains running around every second of the day. She can purify the Akuma and make them regular butterflies!"

Nino shrugged. "I'm sure my man Adrien is on my side, right, Adrien?" Nino turned to Adrien, who was amused by the whole conversation.

"Nino, sorry, but I'm a true Ladybug fan. You should really know this."

"I'm betrayed, Adrien. But you're right, you're completely in love with her- it makes sense," Nino sighed. "Marinette, are you with me?"

Alya scoffed. "No way she is! She's obviously on my side!"

Marinette giggled from behind the camera. "I'm with Nino, sorry Alya. Ladybug may cleanse the Akuma and turn Paris back to normal, but she would be nothing without Chat Noir. He gives her the motivation to keep going and they are a team, they both need each other," Marinette explained her choice. "I don't know why we still argue this, they've been out heroes for like, three years. Haven't we talked about this enough?"

Alya blinked at her. "I can't believe you would do this to me. Adrien knows where it's at," Alya smiled at Adrien. "But Nino, I don't think I can make it to our date tonight. And Marinette, I will never stop debating this. I must take my leave," Alya grabbed her lunch and stood up, walking away.

"Alya!" Nino rolled his eyes and chased after her.

Marinette and Adrien laughed as their friends left them alone. "Any last words?" You pointed the camera at Adrien, who smiled as soon as he realized it was focused on them.

"Ladybug for the win," Adrien smiled and Marinette shook her head, turning the camera off.

"That's going to be really fun to subtitle," Marinette giggled. As Marinette speaks French and English, she uses English in her videos to make it more accessible to other people outside of French speakers, and it definitely helps with all her international subscribers. But at school, they all typically talk French, and now she had more work ahead of her with her editing.


	3. 3 - The Moment You’ve Been Waiting For...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette's fans find out she's friends with Adrien Agreste and begin to freak out. To give the fans what they want, they record and post their first video featuring Adrien, with Alya helping behind the camera. As Marinette's fans love Adrien, what will come of the videos on her channel?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are starting to pick up! This story is so much fun for me to write and I'm so happy people are enjoying it!

_Marinette...you know Adrien Agreste?? OMG_

_I can't believe you go to school with Adrien Agreste the model!! You HAVE to make a video with him!_

_I love the Agreste fashion lines! Adrien seems so sweet!_

_While I'm still confused Paris has actual supervillains and superheroes, I LOVE Adrien! I want to see him in a video!_

_You guys would be so cute together. Pleaseeee do a video. Give the fans what they want._

It was all Marinette's comment section was talking about. Adrien had never really been in a video of hers before, as most of her second channel videos were filmed in her room, or only with Alya in public. Marinette should not have been as shocked as she was about her fans freaking out about Adrien being her friend and in a video, but she didn't think it would get to the point where it was all people talked about.

Her Twitter feed was full of people talking about the recent video and how they wanted Marinette to do a video with Adrien. Instagram comments were all about Adrien, how she needed to post more pictures of her and her friends. People wondered about Adrien and his father, as they are typically private people, they wanted to see more about Adrien from the short, funny video.

It was Friday, and they had school off that day. So, naturally, Marinette called Adrien to ask if he had seen anything about the video. It only went up yesterday, so it was possible he had no idea. "Hey, Marinette! Just the person I was going to talk to!" Adrien answered.

She giggled. "Have you seen the video?"

"Of course I have! And all the comments on everything, wow," He awed. "Your fans are something."

"They seem to like you," She commented. "Do you want to join me for a video? I think it would satisfy everyone," She asked him.

"I would be honored. When do you want to get together?"

Marinette thought for a moment when she pulled out her schedule. "Alya and I have a scheduled time tomorrow for a recording, so she would be able to help us with it. If you're available tomorrow, I mean."

She could hear Adrien smile. "The sooner the better, right? I'm free all day tomorrow- father  tomorrow is out of town and Nathalie convinced him to let me keep the day off," Adrien answered.

"Great! Alya will be at my house at ten tomorrow, so see you around then?"

"You know it!"

\---

Alya stood behind the camera and pointed to Marinette. "Okay, ready whenever you are," She said, making sure the lighting was good, the battery would not die, and it stayed in focus.

"You're sure it's not a problem that we speak in English?" Marinette asked Adrien for the third time before the video started.

Adrien shook his head. "Yes, I'm sure. All of us know English, we're good. Remember, I was homeschooled most of my life and had nothing better to do with my time?" He reminded Marinette. "I know multiple languages and English is not a problem."

"Alright." Marinette looked to Adrien and back to the camera. Taking a deep breath, she started the video. "Hi, guys! I'm Marinette!" She smiled. "And today I'm here with my friend Adrien! He was in my video over the debate if Ladybug or Chat Noir is better, and the number of people who wanted to see him in a video was insane. So, we did it."

Adrien smiled and waved. "Hi! I'm so excited. I can't believe you guys wanted this so badly."

"I can. You're a world-famous model, Adrien!" Marinette laughed. "It's no wonder people were surprised we know each other."

Adrien shrugged. "My dad is the famous one...I'm just your typical guy!"

Marinette nodded slowly. "Riiiight," She exaggerated.

"Hey Marinette, how come Adrien's never been in a video before? You trying to keep his gorgeous face hidden from the world?" Alya joked from behind the camera.

If Marinette we're still fifteen, she would have flipped out about Alya mentioning his  _gorgeous face._ But the fact that they're all eighteen, she's learned to contain herself, mostly, around her crush. "Well, I try to keep my one channel separate from my personal life...and normally the second channel revolves around you and me. So again, keeping things separate from my life?" Marinette shrugged.

"That's a lie. It's because I'm always so busy, I barely have any free time. You'd think my schedule would have lightened up as I grew older, but no, it just meant more things for me to do. I blame no one but my schedule for never appearing on the channel," Adrien laughed. "Maybe we should start the video now?"

"Well, we're going to do a design competition. I found these," Marinette held up some booklets made for kids with pre-sketched models and stencils for clothing in the books. "And we are going to duel it out using the books. Stencils can be used, but extra points for no stencils. Now, it wouldn't be a challenge without a time limit. So, we have fifteen minutes to complete our design! Sound good, Adrien?" Marinette asked as she finished the rules.

"Sounds like you're going to kick my butt, but I'm ready," He concluded.

Marinette nodded with a smile. "Alya, what is the theme we are designing for?"

"Spring. Create a spring themed outfit, male or female, appropriate to wear in rain or shine. Professional, but ready for the warm weather," Alya read off the paper. Neither Adrien or Marinette knew the theme prior, and Marinette's mind was already bouncing from idea to idea. Alya held up a timer as she stood behind Marinette and Adrien and smiled as she saw both contestants get ready. "You have fifteen minutes...starting now!" Alya announced and they started to get to work when the stopwatch beeped.

Adrien stared at the paper for about a minute before his pencil even touched the paper, while Marinette was already working on a full design. Adrien kept looking up at Alya for help, resulting in laughter coming from behind the camera. "You are literally the son of a famous fashion designer...how are you not able to do this? You have fifteen minutes," Alya reminded him.

The fifteen minutes flew by quickly and Adrien only shook his head at his design when Alya asked the two of them how it went. "Well, let's take a lot at our results! Since Adrien is so confident in his design, let's see Marinette's first," Alya smirked.

Marinette held up her sketchbook to show a male model. He was wearing a business-casual outfit, but it was written off to the side what colors would be used. The suit was white and there was a light green tie with it, and black pants. The spring colors were tied in around the outfit, including the green tie and suspenders, as well as yellow lines on the white shirt. "I would have colored it if we had more time," Marinette said. "But really, it could be so much better."

"I would love to see how you make it better, that could be very awesome," Adrien complimented. "Mine is crap," Adrien said and showed his sketchbook. "I could not come up with anything, so I drew based on Ladybug? I don't know. Ladybugs are spring insects. So that is why there is a ladybug pattern. Plus, she's a fantastic hero," Adrien smiled.

Alya and Marinette looked to each other and burst out laughing. "Adrien," Marinette started, "I'm sure Ladybug will appreciate the compliment, but you should really stick to your day job as a model. Designing does not seem like it is your strong suit."

Adrien put his hands over his eyes and tried to keep himself from laughing. "Next time we do a video, can we not do anything around designing? I would much rather prefer showcasing literally anything else."

A big smile grew on Alya's face. "Yes! I have the best idea for a video for the two of you! For the other channel, no designing!" She said. "Marinette, finish the video so we can get working on the next one!"

"Everyone's a director these days," Marinette rolled her eyes. "Thank you guys so much for watching! Make sure to follow Adrien, Alya, and me with the links in the description to keep up on all our shenanigains, and I will see you in the next video. Bye!" Marinette said, and the video faded out. As Marinette turned off the camera, Adrien looked between the two girls.

"What's the other video idea?"


	4. 4 - If We Were WHAT?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette has a very busy day and she is not going to let an Akuma get in the way. The busy day entails Alya and Adrien coming to film a video, but she has no idea what the video is going to be about. What could Alya be planning? She is a woman of the people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was my favorite chapter to write so far! Sooooo much fluff and I love it. Alya! will! give! the! fans! what! they! want!

"Chat, watch out!" Ladybug shouted as she jumped to kick him out of the Akuma's range.

Chat landed with a thump, but quickly got back on his feet. "Not wasting any time today, I see," He laughed and spun his baton to protect him from another hit from the Akuma.

"Nope! I've got a full list of things to do today, and an Akuma was not on the plan!" Ladybug yelled back and tried to catch the Akuma's leg in her yo-yo, but missed. "Lucky Charm!" She called, trying to get this over with before Alya and Adrien would be at her house.

With a laugh, Chat Noir stares at Ladybug. "What are you going to do with a towel?"

Ladybug looked around as she tried to come up with something. "You'd think after all these years your Lucky Charm would just come out and tell you what to do."

"I don't need that; I know what I'm going to do. Let's get closer," She directed, and they both started running down the street to get closer to the Akuma.

Chat Noir was busy distracting the Akuma while Ladybug set up her trap, getting everything into place. And as if on cue, the Aluma fell for it, and they were able to break the akumatized object.

"I think that's our record for fastest Akuma take out yet," Chat Noir nodded, standing before Ladybug as she cleansed the butterfly. "Pound it!" Chat Noir put his fist out to celebrate the win.

"Pound it," Ladybug smiles sweetly. "Now, like a said, I've got a really busy schedule today, so I've got to get going. Good job, Chat, I'll see you tomorrow!" She waved as she swung away.

Normally, Chat Noir would be a little upset about Ladybug leaving so quickly. But he had places to be, too, and almost freaked out when he checked the time. He had to get to Marinette's before Alya hunted him down. Somehow, he managed to free his schedule and sneak away from his father and Nathalie to make another video for Marinette's channel, and Alya was so excited she would kill him if he backed out. She was determined to make this happen...whatever it was.

Ladybug landed on her balcony and jumped through her trap door, de-transforming before she even fell on her bed. She looked at the clock, noting there were only ten minutes until Alya and Adrien were meant to arrive. "Perfect timing, huh Tikki?"

Tikki giggles. "Isn't Alya always early though?"

Marinette climbed down the ladder and shrugged. "She's probably talking to my parents in the bakery. She knows  _I'm_ never on time, you know she likes to give me a few extra minutes," Marinette reasoned. "I'll just finish setting up, and she'll be up in a few minutes."

"Marinette, are you ready?" Alya called only a few steps away from the trap door to her room. Tikki quickly flew to her hiding spot just as Alya threw the door open, a big smile on her face and her laptop in her hand. "Great! You're almost set up. Adrien texted the group chat that he's only a few minutes away, so everything will be right on time!" Alya smiled.

Marinette chuckled and shook her head. "Are you still going to keep the video a surprise?"

"Yep! Neither of you will know what it's about until we start recording!"

Rolling her eyes, there was a knock at Marinette's trap door and it opened a second later. "I hope I'm not late," Adrien smiled as he climbed into the room.

"Nope," Marinette said. "Glad the Akuma attack didn't slow either of you down!"

Adrien shook his head. "They're just getting worse and worse these days. But it seemed like Ladybug and Chat Noir took out this Akuma really fast," Adrien mentioned.

"Crazy fast!" Alya nodded. "I don't blame them, though. They've been fighting Hawkmoth for years; I'd be done with fighting these Akumas and just want to be over and done with it."

Marinette nodded as she set the camera to the correct settings. "Okay, I'm all set. You guys ready?"

Both Adrien and Alya nodded, and they all took a seat in front of the camera. With a deep breath, as she mentally changed languages, Marinette began the video. "Hi, guys! I'm Marinette. Today I'm with Adrien and Alya, yet again! And...I have no idea what this video is going to be about."

"Because I kept it a secret!" Alya giggled. "Now, I've read your comments, your tweets, your posts, I know what the people want. I know what I want, and today, I am doing my noble duty to serve the people of Marinette's channel."

"Just spit it out already," Marinette groaned, causing Adrien to burst out laughing.

With a sinister laugh, Alya smirked. "Today we are doing a tag. I'll read the questions, and Marinette and Adrien have to answer. The tag is called..." She paused for dramatic effect. "If we were dating."

Both Marinette and Adrien turned their heads to look at Alya as soon as she the words. "Alya, you can't just spring that on us!" Marinette squealed, obviously surprised as she defaulted back into French.

Adrien sat in silence, letting the girls dish out about it. "Hey! You both said I could choose the video since I was positive it was going to be a good one, and it would get the audience excited!" Alya crossed her arms, still speaking English. "You both agreed before even knowing what it was."

"Exactly!" Marinette sighed. "Isn't that, well, a little personal?"

Alya turned to Adrien with a sweet smile. "Adrien, dear friend, sunshine child, Adrien, would you be okay with doing this video?"

After a second, Adrien nodded. "Yeah, it's all in good fun, right? Just a game between friends. Are you okay with this video, Marinette?" Adrien peered around Alya.

Blocking his view, Alya smiled. "She doesn't get a vote. She knows how much the audience wants this. Besides," Alya looked between the two of them. "I had Nino make us a special track for this video. You know how busy he is; we can't let him down!"

Marinette crossed her arms and looked into the camera like she was on a TV show. "Fine," She grumbled. "Start us off, Alya."

Alya smiled widely. "If Marinette and Adrien were dating, where would the ideal date be?" Alya asked, starting strong. She could tell they were both a little nervous and shy about this video, which is why she forced Adrien to answer first.

"Well," He thought for a second. "I want to say a nice, fancy dinner, but with my schedule, I'm sure the forces of Gabriel Agreste would not allow that to happen and would schedule something right over it. So, naturally, I'd just bring her along, and we would annoy everyone working until they were so fed up that they made us leave!" Adrien smiled. "Then we would eat some of the best pastries from the best bakery in Pairs."

Alya chuckled a little. "Hasn't that happened before?"

"Yeah," Adrien clicked his tongue. "But you and Nino were there too, so that's different."

"You get a pass on that one, pretty boy," Alya narrowed her eyes at him, then turned to Marinette. "And you?"

Marinette sat up and took a deep breath. "Like Adrien, I'm swamped between school, and designing, and YouTube, and just trying to survive in general. Honestly, I'm also really awkward and chill, so I feel like a lot of "dates" would be just sitting around working. Like he would one hundred percent get roped into being a mannequin," Marinette shrugged. "I apologize to my future boyfriends and husband, but it's what you sign up for."

"That's true. I'm pretty sure our whole friend group has been used as a mannequin," Alya confirmed.

Adrien gasped. "How have I missed out on this? I need my own Marinette Dupain-Cheng design."

Marinette giggled. "I'm working on one right now that I'll need help with in the future, I'll check your references and keep you in mind," She joked.

"Wow," Alya interrupted. "Only one question in, but I think I've satisfied the fans for a whole year!" She smirked. "But I'm going to keep asking questions anyway. Next question, you guys always seem to be late to  _everything_ , what excuse do you give each other?" Alya smiled widely. "This is my revenge for the two of you never being on time."

This time, Marinette answered first. "Well, my reason is one-hundred-percent because I was stuck on the phone with a certain Alya Cesaire talking about Ladybug and Chat Noir and how she almost died from another Akuma," Marinette answered, looking Alya dead in the eyes. "Seriously, how many Akumas can one girl almost die from?"

Adrien tried to keep his laughter hidden and covered it up with a cough. "I got caught fake practicing piano again and had to start over. Honestly, that happens a lot. It might not even be a lie. It happens on like a monthly basis at this point," Adrien admitted. "Man, I'm  _so_  good at piano," He joked.

Alya, staring at Marinette with the same look she was given, asked the next question. "How would you guys get together?"

"Oh, I have a funny one!" Adrien tore the tension away from the girls after he thought for a moment. "Now, I don't know if this would actually happen, but I thought it would be a funny way to start dating someone," He drew out, then realized he was rambling. "Oh right! I have a feeling if Marinette and I were to start dating, we wouldn't even realize it. We're both way too busy. Between me working as a model and doing all the activities planned out for me, plus the last year of school and working to get into university, I've got a more packed schedule than usual. And Marinette mentioned her schedule earlier, but also with school and university, and hell, she's more busy than I am!" Adrien said.

Alya smiled and shook her head slowly as she looked to Marinette for her answer. "We would have gotten trapped in a panther cage to start dating," She confirmed.

"Ooh! That too. That's still my favorite story. Alya and Nino didn't even think they were going to be together, but when Ladybug shoved you guys in there-"

"She obviously knew you were meant to be together!" Marinette finished for Adrien as a blush grew on Alya's cheeks.

Alya covered her face with her clipboard. "This video is not about Nino and me! Now, if you had to choose one person for your partner to leave you for, who would it be?"

"Chat Noir, obviously. The only other man I would trust with my girlfriend, seems legit," Adrien shrugged.

Marinette laughed. "I was going to say Ladybug for you! They're superheroes; you can't go wrong with superheroes and entrusting someone to them," Marinette reasoned.

"You guys are having much more fun with this video than I thought you would," Alya said. "I should up the difficulty. Hmm," She thought for a moment. "My next question is, what would your  _ship_  name be?"

Adrien furrowed his eyebrows. "Ship name?"

"Yeah, like when your TV characters get together they have a combined name. What would your name be?" Alya clarified.

With a shrug, Marinette answered. "Madrien or Adrienette. But Madrien sounds like Mandarin, so I like Adrienette more."

Alya giggles slightly. "Have you thought about this before?"

"This is the first time  _I've_ thought about it. My comment section on the last video we did together had a lot of debates about our name. And I read...every...comment."

Alya and Adrien stared at Marinette. "What?" She asked, slightly offended by their looks. "I'm committed. A lot of the times, the comments are the best. But guys, that video we did with us designing, it was insane," Marinette said with wide eyes.

Nodding slowly with a sly smile, Alya looked back at her tablet to find more questions. "Ooh!" She squealed. "This one is fun. Where would you get married?"

Marinette shrugged. "Adrien's backyard," she said. "Think about it, his mansion is huge, so why not throw the wedding and the party there? Plus, it'd be private," she finished off.

"That's a good idea; I'll remember that for when I get married," Adrien pointed at her. "I agree with Marinette. That's where we would get married."

"I can see that happening. But I also think you guys would go  _big_ ," Alya said. "Make sure it upstaged as many people as possible."

With a giggle, Marinette shook her head. "I don't think so."

Alya asked a few more, smaller sized questions to end off the video and satisfy all the viewer's needs. "I'll be honest, that wasn't as horrible as I was expecting it to be," Marinette commented. With agreeing nods from Adrien and Alya, a big smile wiped across Marinette's face. "Thank you all for watching! Make sure to leave a like and a comment, and subscribe for more. You can find my other channel and all our social media on the screen or linked below, as well as the Ladyblog for Alya! We will see you next time," Marinette said and stood up to turn the camera off. With a big sigh, she laid down on the floor. "I was not emotionally prepared for that," She said, already speaking French once again.

Alya burst into a fit of laughter, and Adrien just stared down at her. "What, you wouldn't want to date?" He joked.

Marinette's face turned red. "No! That isn't what I meant! I was just completely prepared for another video, and having to do that all of a sudden, and...um-"

"I'm just messing with you, Marinette," Adrien admitted. "Sometimes it's funny."

"This is why I like him," Alya pointed at Adrien, and Marinette covered her face and rolled over, groaning loudly.


	5. 5 - You Can’t Just Be A “Casual” Fashion Fan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the last video with Adrien, Marinette was amused at how her fans reacted to the "If We Were Dating." There was one person Marinette was surprised to see enjoy the video: Chat Noir. After a busy day, Marinette has Ladybug duties to attend to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to update every Sunday, but I missed last week because of how busy I was and I didn't want to post on another day and mess up the schedule. Oops! But here's this!!

Alya was right, Marinette's fans loved seeing Adrien in her videos. Her comments blew up, and the video was high on the trending page, views growing by the second.

_Marinette read_ _s_ _the comments! She knows Adrienette- and I'm sure she supports it! They would make such a cute couple._

_At first, I didn't think Adrien liked Marinette that way, but after seeing this video, it's so clear they're meant to be together!!_

_I still think Marinette doesn't need a man, but Adrien is very attractive and quite funny._

_Alya is the hero we need but don't deserve! All hail Alya!_

_I've never shipped two people more. I don't care if it's a platonic or romantic ship, just do more videos together! You guys have such an awesome dynamic that just plays off one another, and I love it. And Alya's interfering comments are literally me, and I love her. Third wheel Alya for the win!_

_Yin and yang. They're so different but so alike. Maybe it's fate they're together. I just know it's perfect._

_If you guys start dating, I demand a couple vs. couple video. Adrien and Marinette v. Nino and Alya!_

Marinette snickered behind the screen as she scrolled through the comments. While her crush on Adrien was still very relevant, she has learned how to deal with it. Even if Adrien himself made it very hard to hide it, she thinks she hides it well enough. And she was sure the comments were  _mostly_  jokes, as people will  _ship_  any two people they see together in an instant. Frankly, Alya was just asking for it with this video. But luckily, the video turned out well, and her fans were loving it.

But she was  _exhausted_. With pumping out videos almost every day, school, and helping a specific cat, she just wanted to sleep for a week straight. Of course, she loved everything she does, but at times it was a little much for one girl to handle.

Alas, she still had to meet up with Chat Noir tonight. She had spent all Sunday editing videos, and she had already rainchecked on Chat Noir last night, she couldn't do it again.

Against her sleepy self, she called out her transformation words and left her house, running around to check on Paris and the cat. Honestly, she was expecting to find him messing around like normal. He's mentioned before he doesn't get out much so when he gets the chance as Chat Noir, he goes a little overboard. But recently, he's been more reserved with his messing around.

Instead of finding Chat Noir pretending to right rope walk or jumping from roof to roof, she found him sitting on the Eiffel Tower, giggling to himself.

"Chat Noir?" Ladybug said, careful not to scare him as she approached.

"Ah, my lady!" Chat Noir smiled at her. "Come sit; I'm watching a video. It's so good," He complimented.

Ladybug's eyes widened as she peered over into his baton playing the video. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, again?"

"Yes!" He replied. "This one's still pretty new; I love it."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "It's about if she were dating a guy...?"

"Yeah, it's adorable. They seem like really good friends."

Ladybug chuckled and sat down next to him. "So, are we going to watch over Pairs tonight, or watch videos?"

Chat Noir shrugged. "Honestly, I'm perfectly fine just watching videos."

Nudging his shoulder, she rolled her eyes. "I don't think watching videos is in the description of superhero or protector of Paris."

"There's a description for that? Why didn't I read it before accepting the job?" He smirked.

Groaning, Ladybug was about to give up. "I'm still surprised you find her videos interesting. I've never taken you as someone interested in fashion."

"What, I can't be a casual fashion fan?" Chat Noir asked, a joking tone in his voice.

"Casual?" Ladybug asked. "I don't believe there's a  _casual_  way to be a fashion fan. You're either all in, or not at all," She played back with his joking.

"Then I'm all in!" Chat Noir stood up. "I could model for you someday, my lady,"

Standing up, she chuckled. "I'd love to see you be a model."

Chat Noir shrugged. "I could do it. I think I'd be the best out there."

"Yeah, right," Ladybug replied. "Should we, I don't know, maybe watch over Paris?"

With a groan, Chat Noir turned off the video on his baton. "That's so much less fun, but I guess you have a point. I'll be back here in just a few minutes!"

"It's not a race, Chat!" Ladybug yelled as he ran off in his direction, Ladybug going off in the opposite direction. They've been friends for a few years now, and they may be closer, but their dynamic is still the same. They would be considered best friends, yet they still barely know anything about each other.

Ladybug's yo-yo began to ring with Chat Noir's picture showing up. "What? We just saw each other."

"Just thought you missed me," Chat Noir joked. "No, I found something kinda...weird; wanna come take a look?" He asked.

"Be right there," Ladybug said and got to Chat Noir as fast as possible. She was expecting an Akuma, something Miraculous related, or just an ordinary citizen having issues.

She was wrong. Instead, she followed Chat Noir's tracker all the way back to the Eiffel Tower. "I won," He said with a smirk, sitting on the edge, and had the video playing again.

"We are not here to mess around!" Ladybug groaned. "Look, I'm so sleep deprived right now. If you're not going to take this seriously, then I'm going home to get some sleep. I have school tomorrow."

Chat Noir nodded. "I do, too," He closed his baton again. "Sorry, Ladybug, I've had a long week. It's been good, just long, and I was treating this as a break. You go home; I'll finish your route."

Her eyes widened at his sincerity. "Are you sure? I can finish my route, but-"

"I'm sure," He stood up with a smile. "If I hadn't played games, you'd be done by now. Go home and get some rest," Chat Noir shooed her, his smile growing.

"Thanks, Chat," She grinned. "I'll see you around."


	6. 6 - How Did This Even Happen?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The most recent video has gotten much bigger than Marinette even imagined, and now all the people want is more Adrien! This time, it was Adrien's idea for a video, and it fuffilledMarinette's and her fans' dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another one I had so much fun writing. I loved it and I just think it's so cutesbucivrneiusnrk

Her video with Adrien and Alya quickly became her second most viewed video on her channel, right behind one of her first design videos. It was all over the place, and it was all she heard people talking about online. People  _loved_  the video.

It was definitely good for her channel and her stress, she was a little worried about how people at school would take it. Everyone knew Marinette and Adrien had gotten closer since he started appearing in more videos.

Of course, she would love to do more videos with Adrien. However, she didn't know how to keep asking Adrien if he wanted to be in more videos, or if he wanted to stop after seeing all of the comments.

"There she is!" Nino smiled widely when he saw Marinette enter the room. "You actually look rested for once."

"Yeah, I got to go to sleep at a decent time last night," Marinette said. "What's up?"

"Your video blew up, Mari!" Nino jumped. "We were all talking about how awesome that is. And my song was in the video! We're all famous!"

With a giggle, Marinette shrugged. "It did kind of get a little crazy. Thanks for the help on that video, Adrien, and for the  _amazing_  idea, Alya."

Alya winked. "You know I know what the fans want."

"Marinette!" Adrien gasped. "I have the  _perfect_ idea for a video!"

Right as he was about to tell her, the bell rang. "We'll talk after class."

"It seems like we've all had busy weekends," The teacher began to talk. "Glad to hear, but let's get to work. We have some important projects coming up for your last few months of school."

—

Wednesday

Marinette was in her parent's cafe as she began to record her video. "Hi, guys! I'm Marinette!" She said, now it was just habit to speak in English when in front of a camera. "Today, I'm doing a vlog. Well, if I titled this correctly and came up with some cheesy title, then you're probably wondering why this is going on my main channel, when vlogs usually go on the second channel. Well, we have an exceptional kind of vlog today," She winked.

"I'm here!" Adrien jumped into the frame. "I came up with the perfect idea for a video for Marinette, so we're making it!"

"Adrien has a hectic schedule, so we need to finish eating our after-school snack, then we can head out to meet Adrien's bodyguard to go to our secret location," Marinette smiled.

Adrien grinned as he took another bite of his cookie. "The best pastries in Paris. No, in France. Wait," Adrien paused. "The best pastries in the world."

"No wonder my parents like you...you're a suck up!" Marinette joked and turned the camera to herself. "Stay tuned, if you like my fashion videos, then you are going to love this!" She said with a big smile and stopped recording. Only a few more minutes passed by before both of them weird in the car heading to the location of the secret vlog.

Both of them were happy; they were becoming closer. Sure, over the past few years they had become friends, but there was a lot of development between them since Adrien started appearing on Marinette's YouTube channel. He became more interested in her work, and it gave them excuses to hang out and become better friends.

The two of them talked non stop on the ride. Halfway through, Marinette turned the camera on as they continued their conversation, but now they were speaking English. "I think my viewers like you more than they like me," Marinette told him as she held the camera in front of them. "It's kind of obvious. They always want you in a video."

"Hey, I've read the comments. I know how much they like you, but they also like seeing you with your friends!" Adrien smiled. "I'm happy to be a reoccurring character on the Marinette show, instead of just being a cameo every once in a while," Adrien nodded, proud of himself.

A gasp and a smile formed on Marinette's face. "You should have a cameo. Like, you know, people pay celebrities to talk to them through a small video. It's kind of a cool concept. I heard people were campaigning to have Ladybug and Chat Noir get a cameo, but I don't know what came of that."

Adrien smiled as he listened to Marinette talk. "I haven't heard of that before; I'll have to look into it. Maybe it'd be something fun, you know, if people would want me to get one. Leave a comment, or tweet Marinette or me telling us what you think!" Adrien promoted, and as if on cue, the car stopped. "Oh! We're at our  _secret location._ "

Marinette rolled her eyes at Adrien, and the two of them got out of the car. "Guys, I don't think you're ready for this. If you're on this channel, you probably like fashion...or just Adrien Agreste. And either is perfect for this video, as Adrien brought me along to one of his shoots!" Marinette squealed as she turned the camera around to show how everything was set up. "This is very behind the scenes and the first time I've been to a photo shoot without Alya and Nino. Normally they get bored and try to distract me, and I just know this is going to be awesome!" She rambled on.

Adrien stood beside her, partially in the frame, staring at her with a small smile. Once she finished rambling, she looked to him, and Adrien was snapped back to reality. "We've got some things to take care of before it all starts. You have to get all the behind the scenes footage! I need to get my first outfit and some makeup on, so we've got a long afternoon ahead of us, Mari." He grabbed her wrist not holding the camera and led her to his  _dressing room_ , and when Marinette stepped inside, she squealed.

"This is literally my dream, Adrien. To walk into one of my model's dressing rooms and see a bunch of clothes that I designed, the model excited to do a photo shoot wearing said clothes, and just expand the brand," Marinette gushed.

With a chuckle, Adrien sifted through the rack of Gabriel clothes. "And I have no doubt that it will happen soon," He smiled. "Hey, speaking of that, when am I going to be forced to model an outfit you're working on? You said you had one and I was next up to the plate," Adrien smirked, with his arms crossed as he was now standing facing Marinette.

Marinette shook her head. "It's still a work in progress. But, here's a sneak peek for you, and for the viewers who are awaiting one of my biggest fashion videos...it's an outfit inspired by Chat Noir," She said in a hushed tone.

Adrien's smirk turned into a big smile. "Oh my gosh, I can't wait to see it!" He said, and turned back to his clothes.

Marinette continued to vlog as much as she could. She snuck in a few recordings when Adrien got his hair and makeup done, then recorded him walking around the dressing room showing off some clothes. Since all the clothes in this photoshoot have been released, there was no issue against Marinette recording- Adrien even made sure to get her special permission.

It was when the actual photo shoot came about there were problems. A dozen people were running around trying to make this perfect, and it was clearly stressing Adrien out. Marinette has been to a few of his shoots before, but never alone, and it was never this chaotic. She was able to get a little bit of footage of the actual photo shoot, and she was most excited about hearing the photographer say "think about your mama's spaghetti!" to get Adrien in the perfect pose. Of course, Adrien was used to it; he had been hearing that phrase for years.

Marinette was also reminded about the amount of footage she was going to have to subtitle, but she had such a great time she didn't care. After the first outfit, Adrien ran over to Marinette and the camera with a smug look on his face. "How do you think that went?"

"I'd say you handled all the stress and spaghetti talk perfectly, Monsieur Agreste," Marinette snickered from behind the camera.

Adrien picked up a napkin off the table near them and pulled a pen out of his pocket. "Please, my biggest fans call me Adrien," He winked and handed Marinette the now signed napkin.

"Oh, don't let me swoon!" Marinette joked as she took the napkin. "Also, stop letting me let your ego grow. You don't need anymore," she said. "Now go change and get on with the next outfit."

"Anything for my biggest fan!" Adrien ran off, and Marinette shook her head at the camera, closing it for the time being.

This was going to be one of her most favorite videos to edit.

—

The video caused an uproar. People  _loved_  watching Marinette and Adrien interact, and the video was only growing on the trending page. Her Twitter blew up with tweets about her and Adrien, and she couldn't believe how much people enjoyed the videos, especially their friendship.

It was no longer just about  _Adrien Agreste, the fashion model; it_  was about the friendship and development between Adrien and Marinette. And while they were not near being above friendship, people still loved to see them together.

Hell, #Adrienette was trending on Twitter for the hour once the video was posted. Marinette knew Adrien liked someone, and she had come to terms with it and learned to control her crush. That didn't stop the hope in her heart that one-day things would change, and her fans would be right. But right now, she was just happy that she and Adrien were becoming closer and closer every day. However, Alya would never let her hear the end of it.

Once Alya went to bed, though, Marinette opened up the video she titled  **HOW DID THIS EVEN HAPPEN? | Marinette Vlogs**. As the video played at a low volume, Marinette scrolled to the comments and began reading some of them, like she usually does after a video is posted.

_This was such an awesome video! I loved seeing the different type of content, yet it still revolved around fashion! Can't wait to see more, with or without Adrien._

_I've always wanted to see how photo shoots go, and you are so lucky to be able to experience it! By the way, totally agree with Adrien, your photo shoots will be here before we know it._

_If you're looking for models to show off your first, kick offline, I'm sure every one of your fans would be down to do it! How awesome would that be, a line where your fans and supporters are the models? I can't wait until you actually put out a line, I love your designs, and I can't wait to see the Chat Noir inspired outfit! Especially with Adrien modeling it!_

_A Chat Noir outfit? You spoil us! I just know it's going to be perfect and Adrien is going to fit that style so well. Before we know it, he'll quit modeling for his dad and start modeling for your line!_

_I loved the concept of this video and all, but I can't help but focus on the fact that Adrien called her MARI. That is the cutest nickname, and I've never really heard her friends call her that before. We've heard M, and Nette, but never Mari, and I love it. Sometimes you guys look so in love, and I'm honestly here for it._

_Marinette!! You're on the trending page!! And Adrienette is trending on twitter!!_

_Oh my gosh, Marinette, you and Adrien have taken over Tumblr. There's fan art of you two- more fan art than you and Alya have gotten. And I'm sure there are fanfics- please do a video of you guys reading them. It would be hilarious!_

Marinette really enjoyed reading the comments. She loved interacting with the fans- but reading fanfiction about her and Adrien might be a little much. After she got through a good amount of comments, she shut off the video and smiled to herself.

"People are going crazy for you and Adrien," Tikki giggled from over her shoulder. "Dreams do come true, huh?"

Marinette shook her head and laid down. "People love to ship any guy and girl they see together. Plus, as much as I wish he did, Adrien doesn't think of me like that. Maybe one day, Tikki," She sighed. "Let's get some sleep."

But Adrien was still up, reading every single comment and tweet he could find. This was by far his favorite video they have ever made, and he was beginning to realize how happy he was to be friends with Marinette. He loved having her around and creating things with her, and seeing the reaction from her fans about the two of them only made him smile more. However, he would never forget about Ladybug; she would always be his number one. Marinette was just a very, very close second.


	7. 7 - Another Thing To Keep Track Of

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People loved the last video starring Marinette and Adrien, and now she's got a meeting with Jagged Stone to stress about! All of this begins to pile on Marinette, and she needs a good friend to talk her out of freaking out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a little slower, but an important chapter! The next few are going to be a lot of fun...now I'm just figuring out where to put the climax of this story. I still don't even know how long I want it to be!! But, I am really enjoying writing it, and I'm glad people are enjoying reading it!

"Marinette! I saw Jagged Stone's tweet. Are you guys actually doing a video together?" Nino ran up and asked as soon as he saw Marinette.

Early in the morning, Marinette was not prepared to hear Nino screaming. But she still turned around from her conversation with Alya and smiled widely at Nino, nodding quickly. "Yeah! He gets in town tonight, then I'm going to his hotel tomorrow, and we're shooting a video. I haven't fully finished planning for it, but it's going to be an awesome video," Marinette promised.

"You guys have collaborated a lot, so I have no doubt this will be just as awesome," Alya intervened. "Now, can we talk about how your video is  _still_ trending three days later?"

Shaking her head, Marinette shrugged. "I've had videos trend before."

"But not like this! This one is on YouTube  _and_ Twitter!" Alya put her hands on Marinette's shoulders, shaking lightly. "Besides, the whole internet wants you and Adrien together."

Marinette took a deep breath. "Honestly, Alya, I'm trying to stay cool about the whole thing. These past few weeks have been some of the best for my channel- views, likes, and subscribers are up. Not only just on the videos with Adrien, though, but people also seem to find me from those trending videos and watch a bunch of my other stuff. That's not normal," Marinette said. "Most times, people watch what's recommended, then don't watch anymore," She shook her head.

"You're just so likable people want to come back for more!" Alya nudged Marinette's side. "People come for the Adrien content, stay for the marvelous Marinette."

The three of them stopped talking when they heard Chloe scoff at them. "I think you're only trending because the three of you bought more views," Chloe rolled her eyes.

"Chloe, if I did that, YouTube knows how to find out. I basically wouldn't have a job if I bought views. Besides, the views, likes, and comments match up," Marinette smirked. "I've studied the statistics of everything and spend way too much time on my videos to buy views- people will watch my videos if they want, I'm not going to fake it," Marinette defended herself.

"Anyways, Marinette's not like that," Adrien said once he walked in the classroom. "It was a super fun video to make, and the reaction from fans is amazing, no wonder it's still trending. We had fun making it, and that shows, people like that," Adrien said as he stood next to Marinette. He may be childhood friends with Chloe, but he's seen how she can be, and he still has to put her in her place from time to time.

"Hhmph!" Chloe pouted and turned to her seat, clearly at a loss for words.

The attention steered away from Chloe and back to their small group. "I can't believe it's still trending!" Adrien whisper-shouted. "The video was awesome, but people like it a hundred times more than we projected!"

Alya giggled. "People do love seeing you guys together," She shrugged, dropping the slyest of hints.

Marinette rolled her eyes as everyone headed to their seats. "Hey, Adrien," Marinette called, and he turned around. "I'm almost finished with that design I teased. Will you be free Friday night or Saturday?"

Adrien thought for a second. "I'll find out as soon as I get home," He smiled. "I can't wait to see it!"

"Sounds like a plan," Marinette nodded and took out her books.

—

A thump sounded behind Ladybug, causing her to jump at the sudden noise. "Did I scare you, my lady?" Chat Noir asked. "I'm not used to seeing you sitting here, slumping," He commented and took a seat next to her.

"I'm fine," She replied. "Just a little stressed."

"How come? I know talking about it can be a way to destress sometimes," Chat Noir said. With a head shake  _no_ , Chat Noir sighed. "You don't have to; I just wanted to offer."

Ladybug laid back on the rooftop and put her hands over her eyes. "There's just so much going on, Chat, and everything is moving so fast. I graduate from school in just a few months, and we still haven't defeated Hawkmoth. What happens when we go to University? What if I go to another city...I can't imagine giving up my Miraculous, especially not when Hawkmoth is still out there. We know how to fight him, and we are so close to defeating him, if only we could find him," She groaned and took a deep breath.

Chat Noir listened in silence as she talked. "I've basically got two jobs, and I could quit one if I wanted, but I love both of them so much. Tomorrow, I have a big meeting with someone, and he won't tell me what it is about, and that's stressing me out. Last time he had a surprise for me, national television made fun of me for it. I'm sure tomorrow will go fine, and I've worked with him before, but he can work in mysterious ways," Ladybug continued, freaking out about her meeting as Marinette with Jagged Stone tomorrow. They were going to do a video, and he said he had the perfect idea for it, yet never mentioned what  _it_  was.

For a minute they sat in silence as Ladybug could feel stress tears come to her eyes. "Ladybug, you do so much," Chat Noir said.

Uncovering one of her eyes, she sniffled and looked at him. "What?"

"You go to school, work two jobs, have a social life, and still protect Paris. I may not know much about your life under the mask, but I know it's just as amazing as the one I've learned to know here," He said. "I'll never understand how you do it and never crash from exhaustion. I've done that before, and trust me, I'm not nearly as busy as you are," Chat Noir said. "You're, dare I say,  _miraculous._ "

Ladybug rubbed her eyes and sat up. "Thank you, Chat Noir. I really needed to hear that. I can talk to my friends about all this, but they don't know this side of my life and understand the stress I have from it," She told him. "Can I ask you one more question?"

"Of course."

Ladybug thought about how to phrase her question to ensure he wouldn't be able to figure out who she was going to talk about. "I've been friends with this guy for a while- probably as long as you and I have known each other, actually. We were  _technically_  friends for a while, though, I was always too nervous to actually say two words to him because we are in such different levels. He's best friends with my best friends boyfriend, too, so we've always had mutual connections," Ladybug rambled on, then took a big breath.

"Okay, to the point. Recently, we have grown closer. Like, really close. Close to the point where we now hang out without our other friends around and act like we've known each other like this for years," She said. "And I had a huge crush on him. I think it's still there, but I've learned how to hide and suppress it. But we spend so much time together; I'm afraid it's going to come out full force. Is it weird to like your close friend?"

Chat Noir shook his head once she finished, thinking of how he feels about Ladybug. "Not at all. It's kind of like skipping a step, I think. When dating, you have to get to know each other and if you'd be compatible. If you start dating from being friends, then you already know each other, and you've skipped the awkward stages of getting to know one another. You already have an idea of how the two of you would work out, and if dating would be better for the both of you," Chat Noir sighed once he realized he was giving his crush advice for her crush.

Ladybug nodded slowly. "Right, that's a good way to look at it. Thank you, again. I don't know if I'm going to act on it, though, we're both ways too busy for any kind of relationship. That would just add another thing for me to keep track of," She giggled a little. "Thank you for the talk; I don't know what I would do without you," Ladybug put her hand on his shoulder.


	8. 8 - Jagged Stone Project ANNOUNCEMENT

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien attempts to wrap his head around many things. Marinette has her meeting with Jagged Stone, and is very excited for everything that is to come. As always, Fang is the star of it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love this story and honestly it's gonna keep getting more fun and...well, more pining.

"She's been on national television, Plagg," Adrien sighed. "How come I haven't noticed anyone on national television that reminds me of Ladybug?"

Plagg shrugged and took a bite of cheese. "She could look different."

"That's true, but I think I would know her just by looking at her," Adrien declared. He fell back on to his bed and groaned. "I  _helped her with her crush problem_."

"What's wrong? She said she wasn't going to act on it; she's too busy. So she's not going to be with anyone, not even you!" Plagg said and ate the rest of his cheese in one bite.

Adrien rolled over and started scrolling the Ladyblog. "You're not helping." Adrien closed the app, and opened up YouTube to watch Marinette's newest video about making a jacket. He hoped it was for the outfit she was making based off Chat Noir, but the video shows her working on something that was entirely not Chat Noir.

—

Marinette took a deep breath as she knocked on Jagged Stone's hotel suite door. Only a few seconds later, the door opened wide. "Marinette! Good to see you!" Penny smiled and welcomed her in. "We've been so excited about this, and I really hope you'll agree to it."

"Agree to what?" Marinette asked, trying to get more information out of her before Jagged springs it on her.

Penny shook her head as she led Marinette to the couch. "Go ahead and set up, I'll let Jagged know you're here," She patted Marinette's shoulder and walked to the next room.

Marinette pulled out her tripod and camera, making sure it was in position in front of the couch. Only a minute later, Jagged and Fang walked in to greet Marinette. "If it isn't my favorite little creator!" Jagged cheered when he saw her. "Feels like forever since I last saw you, Miss Marinette," He said and quickly pulled her into a hug. "Fang doesn't know how to act without you."

"I've missed you guys!" Marinette told him. "But, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't having anxiety about this secret project you won't tell me about."

Jagged laughed lightly. "Nothing to be worried about my dear. Have I ever steered you wrong?" He asked. "Okay, besides that one time. This time, however, could be great! I've got this awesome idea, but it will be a lot of work...so we'll see if you agree to it," Jagged said. "I thought we could record your initial reaction, but if you decide not to do it, we can scrap that part and just get on with one of our classic videos," Jagged explained his thought process.

Marinette shrugged. "As long as it's not going to kill me, then I think that's a good idea. Let's get on with it, though. The anticipation is liking me." They both sat on the couch, Penny behind the camera, and Fang at their feet.

Penny pointed when she started recording, and Marinette took a deep breath to begin the video and switching into English mode. "Hi! I'm Marinette, and you guys obviously know who this is: Jagged Stone!" She clapped as she introduced Jagged. "We've done a few projects together before, and he was determined to keep this project a secret from me. So here we are, sitting in front of the camera, me still clueless," Marinette rolled her eyes and crossed her arms jokingly.

"I'm so excited about this that I can barely keep it in. Marinette, I've loved all the projects we've worked on together. Hard to believe it all began with some Eiffel Tower glasses!" He laughed. "Rockers, she's designed an album cover for me and some awesome merchandise, too."

"Please just tell me what this is about," Marinette begged.

Jagged laughed. "Okay, okay. So, I have a new album coming out in a few months. We're still working on recording it all, and it's really getting there. But I had this idea for this album, since I've had so many albums, this one needs to be different," He dragged on, and could tell Marinette was about to explode. "I came up with an idea to have different covers to represent each song on the album. There are currently twelve songs, and that would mean there would be twelve different album covers, each based on one song. It's a thing for collectors, you know? I know it would be a huge job and it's definitely going to take some time, but Marinette, I love your style, and you get my style, and I couldn't think of anyone better for the job."

Marinette's jaw dropped. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but it sure wasn't this. It definitely was going to be a lot of work, but she was already in love with the project idea and was already visualizing how it would look in stores. Plus, Jagged has never been shy about sharing the spotlight with the designers he works with (hell, he's doing a video with her to potentially announce it!). To say the least, Marinette was beyond excited to hear about this project, no matter how much time it was going to take.

"This sounds like such an awesome project," Marinette marveled. "I would be honored."

"Yes!" Jagged jumped up and pumped his fist. "This is going to be so cool, Marinette. Can you imagine how it's going to look in stores? A whole end cap of my album with twelve different covers all designed by you? I can see it now: Jagged Stone, with designs by Marinette Dupain-Cheng!" He started talking very fast, and it showed how excited he was. "I'll send you all the demos and songs that are finished as soon as possible. This is going to be so awesome," Jagged kept saying. "Okay, okay, I'm good. Should we do the rest of the video idea I came up with?"

"If it's as good as the first part, yes!" Marinette nodded with a chuckle.

Jagged looked down at the crocodile at his feet. "I was thinking the video could show how well you and Fang get along."

Marinette pet Fang's head. "First I get another awesome job, and now I get to make a video with my favorite crocodile? How much luckier can a girl get?"


	9. 9 - The Chat Noir Outfit Reveal!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is a professional in self-doubt, and that shows after the past few days. As a bonus, she finally unveils her design for Adrien, inspired by a certain cat themed hero!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was so much fun to write and I picture it in my head so clearly. I wanted so badly to draw how the Chat Noir inspired outfit looks, but I do graphic art and not really drawing people, BUT maybe I'll get to it and just draw on a mannequin lol. If anyone wants to try their hand at it, too, that would be awesome ;) I'm still trying to figure out where to put the climax in the story...and I keep having ideas for the story, so it seems this could go on for a while haha

Friday

Marinette was scrambling trying to get things done. Adrien was on his way to make the newest video of the Chat Noir inspired outfit, and Marinette was losing her mind.

"Tikki! This will never be perfect. If I can't finish something as simple as this, I'll never make it as a designer," She groaned.

"You need to calm down," Tikki said, calmly. She rushed over to the computer and hit the space bar to play Jagged Stone's new song he sent Marinette. It was a slower one that Marinette loved, about living life and how it hits you in unexpected ways. Marinette covered her eyes and fell back onto her chair.

"Why do I keep freaking out like this?" She sighed. "First, I freak out on patrol. Now I'm going to freak out right before Adrien gets here and ruin the whole mood of the night," She said. "I'm a mess."

Tikki floated next to Marinette's head. "You need to take some deep breaths and listen to the song. You said you like this song, and it's about what you're going through right now. Just listen to it and let yourself sit peacefully."

As Tikki talked Marinette through her freak out, her parents were caught talking to Adrien in the bakery. "We're so happy you and Marinette have become such good friends," Sabine told him. "I always knew you guys would be good together."

"I'm glad we've gotten closer, too!" Adrien smiled widely. "We only really hung out with Alya and Nino before, but now it's like we've known each other for years."

"The world works in mysterious ways," Sabine nodded and grabbed a tray of cookies from behind the counter. "Take these up with you, will you? Marinette has been beyond stressed since her meeting with Jagged Stone and has barely eaten. If you can get her to eat just one, you'll be even more amazing. And feel free to have as many as you want, too!" Sabine said as Adrien nodded and she pushed him towards the steps to their house.

Adrien knew where to go, and he really loved how quaint their home was. He could hear Marinette talking to herself, and started to walk up the stairs to her room. With a few knocks on the trap door, he waited until he was allowed to come in.

"Marinette? It's Adrien!" He yelled through the door.

Marinette wiped her eyes. "Hide, Tikki," She whispered as she sat up. "Come in," Marinette replied to Adrien, and the door opened a second later. She smiled weakly as she saw Adrien enter her room with a plate of cookies.

"Sorry I'm a little early, but your mom sent me with cookies! She wants you to eat at least one- were you crying?" Adrien asked, stopping quickly and staring at Marinette's puffy eyes.

She shook her head and took a deep breath. "I'm fine, do you want to get to work?" She asked and gestured towards the mannequin with a sheet over it.

"No," Adrien said and set the cookie tray down near her desk. "I want you to tell me what's wrong," He said warmly and took a seat next to her.

Marinette took a deep breath and laid back, just like she was with Tikki. "I'm just stressed, that's all. I'm way in over my head, and I'm freaking out, you know?"

"I do," Adrien nodded.

"There's just so much going on between school, my YouTube channel, working in the bakery, and now this big project I took on by Jagged Stone, I'm never going to survive," Marinette groaned. "I shouldn't be complaining. You're much busier than me."

The room was silent for a second. "You do so much, Marinette, I honestly don't know how you do it."

"What?" Marinette asked and turned her head to look at Adrien.

Adrien grabbed her hand and pulled her to sit up. "You do so much! I'd go crazy if I were you. You say I do a lot, but you do ten times more. You work in the bakery, run two YouTube channels with near-daily videos, you're in the last year of school, somehow you design new pieces almost weekly, and now you've taken up this huge project from Jagged Stone! I don't know how you maintain a social life," Adrien said. "You're, like, a superhero," He chuckled.

"Really, I don't know how you do it all. So many things stacked on top of one another, yet it all turns out amazing with everything you do!" Adrien smiled widely. "I know it can be stressful, and it's okay to cry. Crying is good for you, actually, but you're never going to let anyone down with everything you do," Adrien complimented.

Marinette took a deep breath. "Thank you," She said. "This is the second time this week I've freaked out like this, and I guess I really needed to hear it again. I had a major freak out the night before I met up with Jagged, and I don't know why it just hit me again. But thank you, Adrien, sometimes talking about it helps," She said. With a deep breath and a wipe of her eyes, she stood up. "Do you want to see the outfit?"

Adrien shook his head and stood up, too. "Not until you eat a cookie."

Marinette groaned and grabbed a cookie off the tray on her desk. After taking a bite, she gave a sarcastic smile. "There, happy?"

"Very!" Adrien nodded. "Now you can start the video and reveal the outfit to me."

With a deep breath, Marinette grabbed her camera and aimed it at Adrien. "Hi! I'm Marinette, behind the camera," She said and moved her hand around to the front of the camera to wave. "Your favorite is here, too. Today is finally the day! I have finished the outfit Adrien will model for us, and I think it's safe to say, Chat Noir would be proud."

"If it's black and green, then I think he would love it," Adrien said and grabbed the end of the sheet. "May I?" He asked, and Marinette nodded, resulting in Adrien yanking the sheet off the mannequin. He gasped loudly as he dropped the sheet. "Who cares if he approves- I approve! Guys, look at this beauty!"

Marinette moved the camera to show off the design that Adrien was gushing about. "I can't wait to wear it, it's so awesome," Adrien continued from behind the camera.

"Let me do an awesome montage moment, then you can wear it," Marinette chuckled and began moving her camera up and down to get all angles of the outfit, hyping it up as much as she could. A minute passed, and she shut the camera off. "Okay, it's all yours to try on." Adrien smiled widely as Marinette helped take it off the mannequin and handed it to him.

"This is going to be so awesome, Mari," He said. "You're so unbelievably talented. Chat Noir should be proud to have this outfit inspired by him," He commented.

She giggled. "One night, I was outside after a long time of editing, and he was jumping around and told me he liked my videos. I wonder if he'll see this one," Marinette said.

Adrien shrugged. "Your videos can be addicting. I'm sure if he has any idea something could be related to him, he'll watch the video," Adrien smiled and walked towards the bathroom to change into his new outfit.

Marinette shook her head and scrolled through her phone as she waited for Adrien to reappear. "Mari, get the camera ready. I have the best idea!" Adrien called from the bathroom. She did as told, and started recording, pointing the camera at the bathroom door.

"Ready!" She yelled back. The door opened a second later, and Adrien stuck his arm out of the door. It was just his hand to about halfway up his arm, and showed the gloves and the end of the leather jacket. Then, he extended his leg out to show the black jeans with green accents. A moment later, he walked out to show the full outfit with a smug look on his face. "Oh my god," Marinette gasped.

Adrien dropped the look, and a smile grew on his face. "Marinette, this is so badass!" He said and looked all over the outfit. "The pants are my favorite. Black jeans and green stitching? It all works so well together."

The two continued showing off the outfit, and Adrien even did a  _runway walk_  around Marinette's room to give the full effect. "If it wasn't clear before, it's clear now. Your future line is going to be the best damn thing the world will ever see. I can't wait to be your star model!" Adrien winked. "Well, if you'd have me."

Marinette shook her head with an eye-roll. " _Silly kitty_ ," She joked as she motioned towards the hood of the jacket with slight cat ears. "I'd actually have to have a line first before we can even think about models. Not to mention going through fashion school, and finding a fashion house..."

"Pish-posh," Adrien shrugged. "You'll soar through all of that. I mean, look at the stuff you're making now! Someone would be crazy to pass you up!"

Marinette giggled and turned the camera to face her. "I think it's time for the flattery to end, so this looks like a good place to end the video. Thank you all for watching. Make sure to like, comment, and subscribe for more! Keep updated on both mine and Adrien's social media, and I will see you next time! That is, if I can get that outfit off of him and back on the mannequin..." She looked to Adrien, who was now standing beside her.

A smirk appeared on Adrien's face. "Well, Mari, if you were trying to get me undressed, you should have just said so," He moved his eyebrows up and down.

Clearly, that wasn't what she meant, but it did come out sounding a bit weird. Marinette's face turned red, but she tried to suppress it. She groaned and looked at the camera. "Adrien, your Chat Noir is showing," She finished, and shut the camera off.


	10. 10 - A Graceful Thank-You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Marinette's latest video, her fans went crazy. She reads a few comments, and gets a special visitor; only to be interrupted by Alya.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to upload last week but ya girl is so busy. I haven't written to much lately for this story, only have a few more parts stored up- so I best get to writing!

_I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS ABOUT THIS VIDEO AND ALL OF THEM ARE GOOD. I ALMOST NEED TO MAKE A REACTION VIDEO ABOUT THIS VIDEO._

_I love seeing the development of Marinette over the years. Starting as a shy designer who wouldn't even put her voice on camera, to now leaving in a joke about getting Adrien naked. Wow. That easily could have been edited out, but she chose TO LEAVE IT IN. And I am here for it! I'm all for more casual friendships and seeing Marinette's style, and friends continue to grow!_

_It's a good thing Alya wasn't there. She probably would have flipped her mind._

_We don't appreciate Nino and his music enough. I listened to the song from the video all day. It had so many amazing things and then going back to watch the video with it again made me realize how perfect it works with the video. Nino better make an album. I will buy it on the spot._

_Am I the only one who doesn't ship Marinette and Adrien?_  
_> yes_  
_> > I lowkey ship Alya and Marinette. But still, Adrien and Marinette are THE otp._

_Guys!! You have to look at the Marinette Dupain-Cheng tag on Tumblr. Or the Adrienette tag! There's some really cool stuff on there, and I'd think you would get a really cool video._

_TAKE THIS VIDEO TO. MY. GRAVE. PLAY THIS WHEN I AM BURIED._

Marinette loved reading her comments. She had gotten particularly good at skipping over the hate, and only focused on the love. Recently, her fan base has been obsessed with getting her and Adrien together, but she knew it was too much to hope for.

She loves seeing all the fan art appear on her social media though, and makes sure to look at and leave a like on everyone she can see. Marinette wasn't sure if Adrien had seen the video, and if it was a bad idea if she left in his joke. With a sigh, she made sure her second channel video was continuing to upload. It was a vlog she made with Alya after school one day, both of them going to the art store for more supplies for her next project.

When she assured it was halfway done uploading, she looked to the sleeping Tikki. She's been worried about the lack of akumas lately, and on-call nonstop. Finally, Tikki fell asleep, and Marinette was not going to bother her. She climbed out to her balcony to take a break and get some air. It was late, and the quiet outside pleased her. It was an excellent way to take a break.

She scrolled through her phone as she stood in the light breeze, enjoying the quiet. She looked through Alya, Nino, and Adrien's social media to catch up on all their recent updates. Also looking at celebrities and other YouTube stars, she threw her phone on the chair and took a deep breath in the fresh air.

"Marinette?" A voice asked from behind her.

She jumped and put her hand over her mouth so she wouldn't scream. "Chat Noir?" Marinette whispered when she realized who was on her balcony. "What are you doing here?"

Chat Noir shrugged and walked up to the end of the balcony, standing next to her. "I don't know. I was running around tonight, trying to clear my head, and I saw you. So I stopped," He confesses. "I saw the video you made about the outfit inspired by me," He smiled. "It was really awesome."

A small smile appeared on Marinette's face. "I'm glad you liked it."

"Your fans seem to like the best ones to have. I was reading some of the comments, they love you," He complimented.

Marinette shrugged slightly. "I just know how to block the hate. But yeah, I've got some really great fans. It really picked up once Adrien started appearing in videos, people  _love_ him," She giggled.

Chat Noir shook his head. "I've watched your videos for a long time. The people love  _you; you're_  just getting more comments about Adrien because everyone ships you guys. But the real reason they keep watching your videos is because they like you, you know?" He said. "Adrien's just another pretty face people like to look at."

Marinette laughed a little more this time. "Yeah, I guess that's a good point. Fandoms are full of shippers, but I don't think we'd get together anytime soon. We're both so busy," She said. "Plus, that'd be way too easy for the fans," Marinette jokes.

Chat Noir giggled as well. "Yes, you'd definitely make it too easy on the fans. If you guys started dating, you'd need to keep it a secret for a few months but hint at it every so often just to keep them wondering...it's so evil."

Marinette raised her eyebrow at him. "Good idea, I'll bring it up to Adrien if we ever start dating...somehow," She smirked and shook her head. "Thanks for the input, Chat Noir."

He smiled widely. "I'm here to help!" He saluted to Marinette.

Marinette's phone beeped three times in only a few seconds. She looked down to see Alya spamming about the video she  _just_  posted, saying something was wrong. "I have to go deal with this," She sighed. "Thanks for the little talk," Marinette told Chat Noir and walked over to her trap door.

Chat Noir nodded. "My pleasure. I'll see you later," He said and jumped to another rooftop.

Once Marinette got back inside, she sat in front of her computer to see the  _success_  message for uploading the video. "What's wrong with the video?" She asked when Alya picked up her phone call.

"Wrong thumbnail!" She said. "That's for your next fashion video!"

Marinette groaned and opened her thumbnail files on her computer. "Easy fix, don't worry," She told Alya. "I'm so exhausted from everything lately."

"You need to take a break, girl," Alya told her, to which Marinette only laughed. "I'm serious. You run yourself every single day between school, the bakery, and your videos. Not to mention this new project with Jagged Stone, I'm going to force you to take a break sooner than later," Alya told her. "I will personally sneak into your room and take your phone, camera, and computer if I have to. Don't make me do it."

As Marinette fixed the thumbnail for her newest vlog, a small smile grew on her face. "Thanks, Alya. But I'm fine. I promise. I get enough sleep most nights, and I'm good at balancing my time. I've just been extra stressed lately- maybe it's because all of the chaos around the many videos with Adrien popping up. My fans love him."

Alya snickered. "Yeah, they do. Which makes it even better for you!"

"Shush it," She told her. "I'm keeping things as friends. He's not interested, and I'm just glad we're getting closer. Honestly," Marinette promised. "I'm older now, and I don't need to have crazy moments around my  _friend_. Besides, I need to go to bed if you don't want me to crash at school tomorrow."

"Whatever you say!" Alya giggled quietly. "That was a long description of how you're not dating someone, or I guess, how you don't want to date someone. Mhm," Alya hummed, making Marinette huff at her. "Fine, go to bed. Goodnight."

"Goodnight. See you tomorrow!" Marinette said, and hung up the phone. With one last check on her video, she turned off her computer and climbed back up to her bed.


	11. 11 - Impromptu Q&A with Adrien

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for Marinette to get some work in for Jagged Stone's project! Also, Adrien drops by, maybe it's time to make a video.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm running out of prewritten chapters and have so little time to write. I'm here trying, and I'm also trying to figure out when the climax is a good time to have in the story. ALSO there may not be a few updates for a few weeks: I will be on vacation next week, then moving off to college the following few weeks. Gonna be crazy.
> 
> haha instead of saving it as a draft i posted it and im too lazy to go back and do it over again sooo enjoy it a lil early

Marinette was completely focused, sketching out an idea she had for one of the album covers. She had a bad case of art block, and now that she had some inspiration, she wasn't going to lose it. Jagged's song was playing in the background on repeat so she would get all aspects of the song, and Tikki was watching from her perch above Marinette.

Laying on the floor, she was sketching Jagged on a raised platform with lights pointing at him, creating a silhouette. His hands were pointed up towards the comers of the paper. As Marinette began to outline the background, she heard her name being called. "Just a second!" She shouted as she continued drawing.

A minute passed, and Marinette had already forgotten about her name being yelled. She jumped when her trap door opened, and she lost grip on her pencil, and it flew across the room. "Marinette?" Adrien's head popped into her room. "Throwing things?"

She sighed and laid her head down when she realized it wasn't an intruder, only Adrien. "You scared me."

"Couldn't tell," He smirked and picked up her pencil once he got into the room.  "What are you up to?"

"I'm working on one of the designs for Jagged's album project. I was inspired," She showed Adrien the sketch. "What are you doing here? Did we have something scheduled? Oh no, I'm so sorry!"

Adrien put his hands up and shook his head. "No, no, we didn't. Don't worry," He told her. "I sent you some texts and called, Alya was worried because she hadn't heard from you all day. So I called the bakery, and your mom said you were designing and probably would not pay attention to that stuff, so she recommended if I needed something from you to just come over," He shrugged. "But, I now realize you were in the zone, and I probably ruined that."

Marinette giggled. "It's okay; I needed to take a break. What's up?"

Adrien chuckled. "Oh...not much. Alya texted me to ask if I had heard from you, so I tried to get to you, and now we're here. My father and Nathalie are out of town, and the stuff they had planned for me fell through, so I feel like a free man!" Adrien replayed his day. "And I let Alya know you're alive, she was just worried. But that was such a tough adventure, now I'm starving," Adrien said.

"I would think so; you've had a busy day," Marinette smirked.

"Well, want to come with me? It seems as if you've had a busy day as well," Adrien motioned towards her sketches. "Reward yourself."

Marinette shook her head with a little laugh as she went to stand up. She grabbed her supplies off the floor and loved them to her desk. "Where are we going? Do I need to bring a camera?" She asked.

Adrien shrugged. "Who knows, weird things could happen at any time. We do have a Hawkmoth around, and maybe Alya needs a run for her money if you document it."

"I couldn't steal her brand!" Marinette gasped. "But I'll bring the camera just in case," Grabbing the camera, Adrien opened the trap door back up and started to head down with a smile on his face. Marinette grabbed her little purse and opened it just enough to let Tikki in. "Where are we headed?" She asked and followed Adrien down the steps.

Adrien shrugged. "I don't know; there's this little cafe near the park if you want to try that?"

"Perfect!" Marinette smiled. As they left the bakery, Marinette snapped a quick photo of the two of them and posted it on Instagram.

@MarinetteDupainCheng  
Between bad art block and sudden bursts of inspiration for the album project, Adrien got hungry, and now I'm going to lunch. I need to find a reason to get him in a video again...even though it's only been a few days. How would you guys like to see us play our favorite video game?

Adrien chuckled at the post when Marinette let him read and approve it before posting. He clicked  _post_  for her and waited for the likes and comments to roll in. I'm only a few minutes of random conversations, they ended up at the cafe and waited for their water to be served. "So, Adrien," Marinette switched to English when pointed her camera at him as they waited. "I just posted that picture, and now there are a good couple hundred questions on it. Maybe I should make a question and answer vlog where we answer the questions on the picture, but not tell anyone, so people get the real questions answered."

"I think that is an amazing idea!" Adrien smiled widely. "I'll pull up the picture and find some comments, but first I'm going to figure out what I'm having for lunch. I don't know if I've mentioned it, but I'm starving."

Marinette's eyebrows raised. "Wow, you really are a free man today. Choosing your own food and everything!"

"Hush," Adrien put his finger up. "This is an important decision."

A few minutes passed, and they placed their order, and Marinette had the camera back out to answer questions. They were sat in a booth, so she jumped to the other side to be next to Adrien, and set the camera in front of them so they both would be in the frame. "Some of these questions are so good, I can't wait to talk about them," Adrien chuckled as he scrolled through the comments.

Marinette shook her head and clapped in front of the camera to sync everything up. She pressed record and waited a few seconds to start this segment. "I'm over here now!" She waved into the camera. "We have successfully ordered lunch, and now we're going to answer some questions for an impromptu q-and-a. For the record, I did edit the caption on my post so people would ask questions, but it was an hour after I posted it. So it's  _kinda_  a surprise," She winked at the camera. 

Marinette pointed to Adrien to have him ask the first question, and he smiled. "How did you two become friends?"

Rubbing her hands together, Marinette chuckled. "Buckle up, kiddos," She said. "It all started on our second day of school a few years ago. I walk in, and I see this blond boy putting gum on my seat. I yelled at him and put a tissue over it and sat out of the way of it. I hated him, he was brand new to school and already didn't like me! What a bully," Marinette rolled her eyes. "So, I was mad at this boy, right? Wouldn't even look his way, and when he tried to explain himself, I didn't listen," Marinette crossed her arms.

Adrien giggled as he listened to her dramatically tell the story of their friendship. "This also happened to be the day of the first Akuma France had witnessed, so everything was crazy, too. After the Akuma, we ended the day at school with rain, and I didn't have an umbrella. And  _of course_ , there comes blond boy with his umbrella to stroll by me. I didn't look at him, and he just sighed. Then, I let him explain himself. Partially because I was stuck standing there waiting to call my parents for help, but I hesitantly listened. Then he told me he was only trying to remove the gum another girl put there and only wanted to help, and then he gave me his umbrella. I stole it, and it's still at my house."

"To conclude, Adrien wasn't involved in this story at all. He sat behind me in class for three years before I even noticed him- hey!" Marinette chirped when Adrien nudged her with his elbow, a hurt look on his face.

Adrien rolled his eyes. " _To conclude_ , it was my first day of school! I'd basically been stuck inside all my life; I had no idea how to interact with other people my age that wasn't Chloé. I was lucky I was even allowed to go to school," Adrien shrugged, then furrowed his eyebrows. "You still have my umbrella?"

"It's a nice umbrella. Probably going to be worth something someday," Marinette shrugged.

A smirk appeared on Adrien's face when he tried to hold in a laugh. "You forgot the best part! You opened the umbrella; then it closed on you! That was so funny, made my day!" Adrien continued laughing, while Marinette rolled her eyes.

"And that was only question one!" She announced. "Find me another one, my trusty assistant."

Adrien scrolled for a few seconds to find a good one. "How do you guys balance everything you do?" Adrien asked, then laughed. "Ha! I don't!" He said. "I barely get any sleep. Between school, and modeling, and all the countless activities, while also trying to maintain a social life...you think I balance it?" He joked. "I try to balance it, but it's hard. There's always so much going on."

Marinette nodded in agreement. "I'm the same way. I average very few hours of sleep every night with everything I do," She said and peered at the phone. "Ooh, this one next."

A second after Adrien read it, his facial expression was difficult to read. "What's something you wouldn't have expected to know about the other, but you do?" Adrien asked. "Hold on; I'm confused."

"Like something you wouldn't think the other person would do, or a personality trait I have you weren't expecting...kind of like that," Marinette tried to explain.

Adrien nodded and struggled to think. "See, everyone thinks I'm going to say I didn't expect you to be as passionate, or determined, but you are  _so_  passionate and determined that I knew that and everyone can tell. I'm never really surprised by things with you...I have to think on that," Adrien concluded.

Marinette's smile grew wide. "I didn't expect you to be such a rebel. I know you have a lot going on, and when we first met, you listened to nearly everything your father said. Now you're telling me you fake your piano classes and sneak off from time to time," Marinette said.

"Hey! What if he sees this? Shh!" Adrien jumped.

With raised eyebrows, Marinette gave him an annoyed look. "You think he watches my videos? Really? Adrien, come on," She said.

Adrien shrugged. "Who knows, he could be scoping out his up-and-coming competition. But maybe it's an excuse to check up on everything I'm doing," Adrien reasoned. "But he's got a real storm coming if he doesn't get you on his design team...you'd run him out of business!" Adrien told her.

Marinette scoffed and shook her head. "Next question?" She asked.

"Is Alya jealous that Adrien is taking her spot on the channel?" Adrien asked.

Quickly, Marinette shook her head. "Not at all! You guys may not know it, but Alya does  _so much_  work behind the scenes to help me with videos. More so for my main channel, but she helps me come up with ideas, shoot many videos, and runs my website. Not to mention, she's never shy giving me ideas for this channel as well and is always ready to help. I'm sure she enjoys the little break she gets when Adrien butts his way in, she's working really hard at her reporting internship and getting into the school she wants to. All while trying to maintain the Ladyblog, her social life, and her love life!" Marinette explained quickly. "She's like, a superhero."

"Say it louder for the people in the back!" Adrien cupped his hands around his mouth.

Marinette snatched the phone out of Adrien's hand to ask a question. "Who's your favorite superhero from the Avengers?" She asked and sighed. "I don't know about Adrien, but I love so many. Let's see-"

"Oh!" Adrien shouted. "I'm surprised you're such a big Chat Noir fan!" He interrupted.

"What?"

"From the question earlier! I'm surprised you like Chat Noir so much. I would have bet money on it that you liked Ladybug more, and I was shocked to find out!" Adrien gushed. "I'm sure he'd be flattered, by the way. Especially with that awesome outfit you made inspired by him. Still excited, I got to wear that."

Marinette chuckled. "I've met Chat Noir, and he seems really down to Earth. He protected me when an Akuma fell in love with me, and once I confessed that I was in love with him because I panicked over something? It was weird, but then my dad got akumatized, and I was basically Rapunzel, and he helped save me from that too. I haven't seen him in a while, but he was pretty awesome- minus all the puns."

Adrien gasped. "You don't like puns?" He put his hand over his heart and pretended to be hurt.

"I don't dislike them. He was just...very annoying when it came to puns. There were  _so many_ , Adrien," Marinette explained.

"I don't know if our friendship can survive this, Mari," Adrien said. As he crossed his arms and turned away from her, the waiter walked over with their food. "Perfect timing, now I have something to distract me from the  _traitor!_ " Adrien quietly shouted.

"I guess this is as good a time as any to end the video. Make sure to leave a like if you want more and subscribe to never miss an upload! You can check out all of mine and Adrien's social media around our faces or in the description below! See you guys next time!" Marinette made a peace sign and nudged Adrien with her arm. His arms were still crossed, and he tried not to giggle as he looked away from the camera.

The video ended with Adrien grumbling "traitor" as he made a peace sign as well.

 


	12. 12 - Anti-Akuma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette has a skype meeting with Jagged Stone to get some designs approved so he can release his first single. Right after, a jealous Akuma is coming after Marinette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE ARE BACK!!! It's been a few weeks since I've updated because I got really busy with vacation and moving for college, but here we are! This chapter was one of my favorite ones to write so I really hope it is enjoyed. I'm still struggling for when to make the climax happen...but I know when it does y'all are gonna love it >:)

"They're just sketches, but I wanted your approval before I continued," Marinette said as she sat in front of her computer, on a video call with Jagged Stone.

Jagged scoffed. "Marinette, I'm sure they're perfect! But sure, I'll take a look at them."

Marinette grabbed her sketches and showed the first one to the camera. Since there are thirteen songs on his album, she needs thirteen designs. However, she only has six so far. As she started to explain them, she told him where the inspiration from each song came from, and Jagged was enamored at each sketch.

"Marinette, they look great! I can really see how much work you're putting into it, and you have no idea how much I love that. What's your favorite one?" He asked.

She flipped through the sketches as she thought about which song meant the most to her. She landed on the picture of Jagged kneeling with an ice cream in his hand, and dropped ice cream on the ground next to him. He was giving a little girl new ice cream, and looked excited. "Probably this one, it's a coming of age story and how someone picks themselves back up. I really related to it, and had the most inspiration for it. It was like the force picking the person back up needed a little push, and can do great things," Marinette said as she showed the picture to Jagged again.

"I can see you've spent a lot of time on that one, truly amazing. Maybe I should release that one as the first single, with your art accompanying it, people would go wild!" Jagged considered.

"Are...are you sure? It's one that's so sincere, I was sure one of your more dance-like ones would be released first," Marinette commented.

Jagged shook his head. "No, I think this song would be perfect to go out first. I'm sure a lot of people can relate to it like you, since it's kind of coming of age and getting back on your feet. It's a little different sound than what I usually make, but I think the young people would really enjoy it," Jagged talked himself through this idea. "Yes, perfect. Finish that piece first, and then we'll release it as soon as we can!" Jagged smiled widely. "I've gotta run, but keeping rocking the art, Marinette. I'll talk to you later!"

"Bye!" Marinette said as the call ended and slumped back in her chair. "What?" She whispered as she looked at the sketch. "I guess this is the one I have to finish first," She chuckled to herself.

"That's the one I liked, too. So I'm glad Jagged liked it," Tikki added when she flew out from behind the computer. "Since it sounds so much like you already."

With a nod, Marinette picked up her phone to call Alya back. Of course, Alya called while she was talking to Jagged, and she was probably angry she was ignored. "Hey Alya, sorry I missed your call. I know we were going to study today, but I just got off a call with Jagged and-"

"There's an Akuma headed towards your house!" Alya screamed as she was running. "You weren't picking up my calls, so I was just going to come to your house! Are you okay?" She asked, panting.

"An Akuma coming to my house?" Marinette looked out her window. "Why?"

"Rouge fan gone mad, I guess. Thinks you're taking Adrien all for yourself. I don't even know this girl!" Alya shouted over all the noise. "Do you want me to come to you?"

Marinette shook her head quickly, even though Alya couldn't see her. "No, no, keep yourself safe. I'll be fine," As soon as she said that, she heard a thump on her roof. "I think a cat just dropped in. I'll call you later!" Marinette said and hung up before Alya could get another word in.

"Marinette?" Chat Noir whisper yelled from the roof, standing above her trap door. Marinette opened it slowly, peering out carefully as Tikki was already in her bag. "Oh, you're still here, perfect!" He said. "We have an issue."

"Yeah, an Akuma is coming after me...because of Adrien?" She questioned. "Did Alya tell me that correctly?"

Chat Noir chuckled. "Yeah, the boy must be flattered. This... _fan_  is not happy about you spending so much time with him. Not a shipper," He shrugged. "We have to get you to safety."

" **Marinette Dupain-Cheng!** " A loud yell was down the street. "I need to talk to you!"

"I have a feeling she wants to do more than just talk," Chat Noir offered Marinette his hand. "Come on, let's go."

Marinette hesitantly took Chat Noir's hand as he lifted her off her roof. He was running across rooftops with her, trying to find a place to hide her. "Where are you thinking?" She asked.

"I don't know, I'm waiting for Ladybug's reply," Chat Noir said as he continued running with her in his arms, checking his baton for any messages.

"I'll be okay wherever you put me, you guys always work it out," She told him.

Chat Noir was silent for a second. "Maybe Adrien's home? I know he has good security from the few times there have been akumas there," Chat Noir said.

"He's at a photo shoot with his bodyguard, and his father is at a business meeting with his secretary," Marinette recalled what Adrien had told her when they talked that morning.

With a shrug, Chat Noir still headed towards Agreste Mansion. "Even better," He concluded. "No one else there to get hurt."

Chat Noir pushes on a few windows to see if they would open, and then found one that did. "Oh good, I was worried I would have to cataclysm one of these," He said to himself as they landed on Adrien's floor. "Just...stay here? I'll go figure out how to turn on the lockdown system."

"Chat, that's okay, I'll be safe if I hide in the bathroom," Marinette said. "Just go take care of the Akuma before she hurts anyone."

A slow nod and another look at his baton, Chat Noir turned and leaped away. Marinette ran to the bathroom, away from the windows into some privacy. "Are you sure it's safe to be here?" Tikki flew out of her hiding spot. "What if Adrien comes home?"

"Trust me; I know how his photographers work. They're not letting him leave until they get what they want," Marinette said. "We need to get out there and stop my enraged fan," Marinette took a deep breath. "Tikki, spots on!"

Ladybug snuck out of the bathroom to ensure no one was in Adrien's bedroom. When she realized it was empty, she ran to the window, pushed it open, and swung out to meet Chat Noir.

"How are you holding it down?" Ladybug called when she landed next to Chat Noir.

"You're a little late!" He told her, a smirk on his face. "This one is going after Marinette Dupain-Cheng...because of all the time she spends with Adrien Agreste?"

Ladybug nodded slowly as she listened. "Obsessed fans, they can be a bit much," She said. "Have you made contact?"

"No, I took Marinette to the Agreste Mansion to keep her safe. Then, I made sure her parents weren't home in case the Akuma ruined the bakery, and they weren't there. Then you showed up," Chat Noir shrugged. "Let's go in, then?"

Ladybug nodded, and they both made their ways to the flying Akuma. "Just who I wanted to see!" The Akuma boomed. She was normal-sized, but her voice was louder than any person or Akuma they had encountered. She had what looked like a transparent computer screen, in front of her glasses. There was code moving quickly on it, so fast Ladybug could barely recognize it as code. "I am Anti, and I know you know where Marinette is. I want to talk to her,  **bring her to me**!" Anti shouted.

"I think you want to do more than just talk," Chat Noir replied. "They're friends, aren't they allowed to be friends?"

" **No**!" Anti shouted back. "I want Adrien for me, and only me! Marinette is overstepping her boundaries and takes advantage of him!"

Ladybug rolled her eyes lightly. "Does Adrien know you?"

" **How dare you**!" She pointed to Ladybug, shooting electricity out of her finger. "Of course he does, I am co-President of his fan club!" Ladybug could barely hear the last sentence as she was dodging the electricity.

Chat Noir chuckled. "I don't know if Adrien would like you harassing one of his friends," He said. "Heard the guy's a  _sap_  when it comes to that kind of stuff."

" **Adrien has no flaws**!" Anti shouted so loudly Chat Noir had to cover his ears.

"Then why is it such a big deal he's friends with Marinette?" Ladybug asked, but Anti was having none of it. Ignoring the bakery, Anti drove straight for Ladybug, only to have Ladybug propel herself off the rooftop to another, to call out "Lucky charm!"

As the item appeared, they saw Anti begin speaking to Hawkmoth. "I'll get the miraculous once I get Marinette!"

Ladybug stared down at the object in her hand, unsure of how to use it. "A megaphone?" A few seconds passed as Ladybug thought about how to defeat Anti. "I got it! Hand me your baton!" Ladybug told Chat Noir, and he quickly tossed it to her.

"Go pretend to talk to Marinette through her balcony, I'm going to play one of her videos over here, and get Anti to come this way. Then, you can use your cataclysm to destroy her glasses," Ladybug explained, and Chat Noir jumped over to the bakery rooftop, pretending to call Marinette in a hushed tone.

"Oooooh," The Akuma sing-songed. "Are you bringing her right to me?"

As Anti flew to the bakery, Ladybug had one of her videos playing. "Hi, I'm Marinette!" Her intro began. "A few years ago, I won a design contest for a bowler hat. I got some requests to see it, so let's go over it all!" The video started.

" **Who is playing that**?" Anti turned around when she heard Marinette's voice. " **No**!"

When Ladybug waved to Anti from her spot on a roof, she commented about how entertaining the video is. Chat Noir saw his opportunity and took it, calling out his power and jumping on Anti's back to shatter her glasses.

Anti and Chat Noir fell to the ground, Ladybug catching them with her yo-yo. She lowered them to the ground, and quickly cleansed the Akuma. Throwing Chat Noir his baton back, and then tossing the megaphone in the air, she called out "Lucky Charm!" and everything ruined was back to normal.

"Pound it!"

"Well, I must go, my lady. I've got to go tell Marinette she's safe and free to go home," Chat Noir bid his goodbye, and started heading towards the Agreste Mansion.

"See you around, Kitty!" Ladybug called, and also headed to the Agreste Mansion, moving as fast as possible to beat Chat Noir to Adrien's room.

She only beat him by a hair, and slammed the bathroom door shut just as her transformation disappeared. "Sorry about the wait, Tikki," She whispered and gave Tikki a cookie, and Tikki went to hide in the purse.

"Marinette!" Chat Noir called when he entered Adrien's bedroom. He walked over to the bathroom door. "Akuma's gone, you can come out now," He told her.

Marinette opened the door hesitantly, looking around in caution. "Thanks, Chat Noir," She smiled widely, Chat Noir's smile matching in just a few seconds.

 


	13. 13 - Live Stream to Address The Fans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On a nice day in Paris, Marinette and her friends go out for a picnic. She discusses a video idea, and her friends are all for it. Later that night, she addresses her fans, and has a surprise visitor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a set up for something fun- and I’m so excited for the next part! I think I finally figured out where I want to put the climax in the story so we are finally gonna get into some JUICY stuff soon!

"Hi! I'm Marinette!" Marinette introduced herself in her newest video with a big smile on her face. "Today, I have the whole gang with me. Alya, Nino, and Adrien are here!" She turned the camera around to face her friends. They were walking to the park for a picnic, finally having a time where all four of them could make work.

"Finally!" Alya sighed with a smile. "And the weather is actually decent for once, what more could we ask for?"

"Don't jinx it," Nino said, shaking his head. "Let's just enjoy everything we have going for us right now," He chuckled.

Marinette put the camera down while they found a place to set up their picnic. "So, guys, I need your opinion on something," Marinette said and pulled out her notebook from the basket. "Some video ideas. Of course, Alya and I are celebrating our friendship anniversary in a few weeks, and we're having a party, and I've got some more videos about Jagged Stone as he's going to release one of the album jackets with his new song soon," Marinette's rambled. "But..."

"But what, girl?" Alya asked. "Spit it out."

She took a deep breath. "I kind of want to do a video with Chat Noir," Marinette spit out.

Adrien started coughing when he heard her idea, and covered it up by drinking his bottle of water. "That sounds like a cool idea," He gave a thumbs up.

Marinette nodded slowly. "I mean, he told me a few weeks ago he likes my channel, so I thought it would be interesting. I just...don't know how to contact him," Marinette sighed.

"If anyone were to know how to contact him, I'd say either you or Alya. Probably even more so you," Nino chuckled. "Alya can be scary. Besides, you've helped him out before, and he seems to like you as a backup," He said. "Maybe send a tweet or something and hope he sees it."

"Maybe. I'll probably send a tweet out," Marinette shrugged.

"Or, maybe he'll just show up on your balcony like he's done a few times. I think Chat Noir has a crush on you, Marinette," Alya smirked.

Marinette shoved Alya's arm, making her burst into a fit of giggles. "Yeah, right," She rolled her eyes and pulled her camera back out to continue making a vlog with her best friends. Adrien sat quietly as he heard them talk about Chat Noir, and finally snapped back into reality when Marinette went into video mode.

\---

It was a beautiful night in Paris. Marinette was sat in the chair on her balcony, headphones on, and editing a video. The sun was almost done setting, so there was still some light.

She was upset. The akuma that attacked her for being friends with Adrien was getting a lot of hate online. And most of the hate came from fans who aren't from Paris and don't understand all the Hawkmoth and akuma nonsense that goes on. The people can't control what happens, Hawkmoth takes over, feeding on negative emotions. Going back and forth between editing a video and looking at social media, Marinette decided to pause editing and go live on Instagram to address the issue.

"Hey guys, I'm Marinette," She smiled, but it faded quickly. "We've got to discuss something. The person that attacked me for being friends with Adrien was  _not_  a person. She was an Akuma, and people from Paris are very familiar with it. Many people in Paris have been akumatized before, and they have very little control over it. Hawkmoth is a hidden villain in Paris who feeds on negative emotions, and because of the negative emotion, his deals are tough to resist. He gets in your head and makes you believe everyone else is wrong, and what he's doing is right," Marinette explained, entirely seriously.

"Do not hate on the girl who was akumatized and came after me. I'm safe, Chat Noir and Ladybug saved the day and restored Paris from all the damage caused. We may never truly know what struck her to have such negative emotions, but he fires them up past one-hundred when he gets to you. She had no control over what she was saying or doing, and had no idea what happened when the Akuma was released. She wrote a personal letter to my family and me the following day and delivered it to my parents at the bakery to show how sorry she was," Marinette said. "She wasn't trying to hurt me; she said she's a huge fan. I talked with her, and we sorted it out, and it comes down to just Hawkmoth catching her at the right time on a bad day," Marinette continued. She was very passionate about this, as she knows the ins and outs of how Hawkmoth and akumas work.

"You guys know we stay positive on my channel and social media. If I see anyone else say anything bad to or about the girl, you will be blocked. If there's anyone who needs a talking to, it's Hawkmoth," Marinette said. "I hope I made myself clear, and I expect no more comments like those hateful ones I've been seeing to be around my name again," Marinette finished, and shut off the stream.

She set her phone down in her lap and leaned back in the chair, hands over her eyes, followed by a big sigh.

"Even when you're assertive it doesn't come off as mean," The familiar voice of Chat Noir sat in front of her, sitting on the railing. "That's a good thing!" He said. "I respect it."

Marinette shrugged. "I'm tired of seeing people say so many hateful things to that girl. Sure, she was upset, but Hawkmoth just makes the emotions so much worse, and she had no control of it," Marinette said, "People don't understand how it all works, especially outside of Paris."

Chat Noir nodded. "Yeah, I heard she was really apologetic and upset that she let Hawkmoth take hold of her."

"She was nice. I felt bad for her," Marinette finished and took a deep breath. "Is that why you stopped by?"

"Only half the reason," Chat Noir said. "I heard you've been looking for me. What, did you miss me?" Chat Noir rested his chin on his hand, that was sitting on his knee, still sat on the railing of her balcony.

That was right. She, as Ladybug, did drop a hint that Marinette wanted to speak with him. Said she heard from the Ladyblog, which was not a lie. Alya  _did_  make a post in case Chat Noir saw it. "Right," Marinette nodded. "Would you like to make a video with me?"

Chat's smile grew wide. "You're serious?" He asked.

"Yeah, I think it would be really cool. People know I'm a fan of Chat Noir, and they know we've had some chance encounters, I think it would be awesome. It doesn't have to be super long or take too much of your time, and obviously, it wouldn't be anything personal, but just something fun," Marinette rambled. "Only if you want to, though."

Chat Noir smirked. "What's your idea for the video?"

 


	14. 14 - Creating An Outfit With Paris’s Superhero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The time has come! Marinette is finally making a video with Chat Noir. But it doesn't come easy, Chat Noir has to tell his best friend, and Marinette has to have one of her classic Marinette freak outs before the video happens. Hopefully the video goes to plan!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're getting closer to the climax of the story! A few more fun parts then to some more more fun/serious stuff. I'm also lowkey running out of pre written parts so I need to get back on bs for this story. I still love it though, and this part was a lot of fun and I know some people were looking forward to it!

"Come on, Ladybug, you have to do this video with me!" Chat Noir pleaded and pleaded his partner as he told her about his conversation with Marinette the night before.

Ladybug shook her head. "No, Chat Noir. I can't. Besides, Marinette asked  _you,_ and I won't intrude, you're going to have fun doing this video. I'll be a stick in the mud," Ladybug replied, trying anything she could to get him to listen to her without outright saying "I'm Marinette, so I'm already doing a video with you!"

In retrospect, she should have seen this coming. Marinette knows they're a team and Chat Noir wouldn't do anything without Ladybug, but here she is, denying him of that.

"Ladybug-"

"Chat, really, you don't need me in the video. You and Marinette will have a great time making whatever she comes up with, okay? I'll be sure to watch it with you as soon as she releases it," Ladybug smiled.

After a very long time of convincing, Chat Noir finally listened and gave up on trying to get Ladybug to do the video with him. He kept thinking about Marinette and what she possibly could have planned, and she did warn him Alya would be there, so he knew whatever video they would be making, it would be good.

—

Alya still couldn't believe Marinette managed to make this happen. How did she do it? Alya knew Marinette wouldn't answer all her questions thoroughly, so she finally set it aside and was just happy the video was actually happening. Chat Noir was scheduled to be appearing in Marinette's room in a few minutes, and Alya was excited. Sure, she had met him before, but this would be completely different from any other time.

"You don't seem as excited as I thought you would be," Alya commented. "What's on your mind?"

"Don't get me wrong; this is going to be awesome. Ever since people found out I've had encounters with him, they've been asking for a video with him," Marinette answered. "But I'm afraid, like with Adrien, people will start to ship us. I don't want to bring Chat Noir into that; he already deals with that with Ladybug."

Alya shrugged. "I think if he were worried about that, he wouldn't have agreed to do this. I don't think you have to worry, and I'm sure your Adrienette shippers will not leave their beloved ship for Chat Noir," Alya winked.

Without time for Marinette to respond, there was a knock on her trap door. She climbed up and opened it with a warm smile at Chat Noir.

"Good to see you again, Marinette!" Chat Noir bowed once he entered the room. "And Miss Ladyblogger."

"I still can't believe you managed to make this happen," Alya's smile was the widest it has ever been. "The fans are going to freak."

Chat Noir nodded. "Should we get started?"

Alya gestured to the chairs for them to sit in and nodded. Following her unspoken instructions, she pressed record on the camera. "Hi, I'm Marinette!" She waved. "Look who I have with me!" She shouted.

Chat Noir put his hands up and had a massive smile on his face. "You have no idea how excited I am!" He squealed. "I don't even know what we're going to be doing...I'm just so excited to be in one of Marinette's videos. I've seen them all at least twice."

"You have a big fan!" Alya smirked from behind the camera. "And I used to think Adrien was your number one fan."

Marinette chuckled. "He's got some competition," She winked. "So, Chat Noir, are you curious about what we're doing today?"

"Curiosity  _does_  kill the cat," He shrugged. "But, first, let me say: I loved the outfit you made for Adrien Agreste to model. I may be a little biased, but it was practically perfect."

Marinette shook her head. "I would say I would get you it, but good luck trying to take it away from him. He's half holding onto it because he claims it to be awesome, but also that he wants a Marinette original for when I become  _rich and famous_...personally, I think he's a little crazy," She rolled her eyes. "Anyway! Let's get into the video. Before you got here, I came up with a few designs for you to judge. You're going to choose your favorite, and we're going to make a complete outfit with both of our opinions and ideas."

Chat Noir's smile widened as he nodded to her idea. "Do you remember the first time we met?"

Marinette gave him a confused look. "Where did that come from?"

He shrugged. "I figured the people would want to know the backstory. They know all the other stories of how you met your friends- and I like to think mine is the most, well, exciting."

Alya pointed a finger at him. "Watch yourself. She's  _my_  best friend!" She joked.

Chat Noir put his hands up in surrender. "Besides the Alya and Marinette origin, of course," He admitted, then turned to Marinette. "But do you remember the first time we met?"

"It was a while ago, and I was like fourteen. It was within the first year you and Ladybug became heroes, I believe," Marinette recalled. "One of my friends was akumatized, and he only wanted to go on a date with me. Ladybug told you what she knew, and you came to work out a plan with me. Also, we would have never gotten out of that box he put us in if it weren't for my quick thinking!" Marinette smiled widely.

"That's right!" He nodded. "That was the first time an Akuma wanted to take a citizen on a date and not destroy them. So I, obviously, knew I had to help," Chat nodded heroically. "That was when fighting Hawkmoth was a bit easier..." He shook his head with a little laugh.

Marinette chuckled with him. "So I've seen on the news," She said. "Since we got our origin story out of the way...shall we start the video?"

"Oh, right!" Chat Noir jumped. "We're picking the base sketch and then completing an outfit, yes?"

With a nod, she opened her sketchbook to the pages bookmarked for this. "Since we know other Miraculous are possible with the extra help you and Ladybug have from time to time, I was inspired to make some more inspired designs with other animals," She introduced the pieces.

"The first one is based off a bunny, made for a female as I figured the style fit that more. I also have a kangaroo made for a male, and a cheetah that is gender-neutral," Marinette stated and flipped through the pages. "These are just base designs, as we do have much to add to any of them. Which one is your favorite?"

Chat Noir grabbed the sketchbook out of her hands slowly, jaw dropped. "These are  _base designs_?" He asked. "These are all crazy good! Do you guys see these?" Chat Noir turned the sketchbook around to show the camera. "How am I ever going to choose?" He whispered, but still loud enough for the camera to pick up.

Marinette giggled as he flipped between the three pages, visibly having a hard time choosing. He took a deep breath and turned to Marinette again. "I love them all, as you can probably tell.  _But_  let's go with the cheetah, as it's gender-neutral, and everyone could enjoy it!" Chat Noir's smile grew, happy with his decision.

"Good thinking," Marinette said and took the sketchbook back from him. "The base design, like I said, could be fit for a female or a male Miraculous holder. It has the classic cheetah print design bodysuit, but there are quite a few things that make this a  _Miraculous_ suit."

Chat Noir nodded. "Do they have a special power, what's their item, and they need a catchphrase to activate their power," He asked, as well as confirmed.

"That's what we are going to find out as I continue to create the suit!" Marinette told him, flipping to a new page in her sketchbook and picking up her favorite pencil.

As Marinette drew the new design, Chat Noir began coming up with a story for their made-up Miraculous holder. He was having  _way too_  much fun creating a story for the Cheetah Miraculous, even giving them a character voice and a hero name. Marinette drew according to what he was saying, laughing along with him as he told his story.

Once he finished the story, Marinette turned the sketchbook around to show Chat Noir and the camera. It was the completed drawing, with the hero's name at the top, and the catchphrase next to them. The here's name being "CC," their miraculous object being a bracelet, and the powering being super speed. 

Chat Noir's jaw dropped as he dramatically gasped. "Oh...my gosh," He grabbed the sketchbook carefully. "Marinette, this is beautiful."

"Thank you. I bow," She said. "But it would not have been this good without the story of the character- that's what really made it!" 

"Look at what we made!" Chat Noir showed the camera, shaking the sketchbook to make it more intense. "Well, she made. I just talked the whole time. But it still looks awesome! Can I have a copy to frame?" Chat asked.

Marinette chuckled. "Sure," She said and turned to look at the camera directly. "But I think that's going to be the end of the video! Thank you so much for coming to make this video with me, Chat Noir, it means a lot, and I can't wait to see what the fans say! Make sure to leave a like if you want more, and subscribe to never miss an upload! You can check out mine and my lovely assistant Alya's social media on the screen or in the description to get even more of us!" She smiled widely, and Alya turned off the camera.

"That was so much fun. Thank you for having me join you!" Chat Noir told Marinette once the camera cut off.

"Of course. This was awesome," Marinette told him and saw out of the corner of her eye, Alya was making a weird face. "What's that look for?"

Alya clenched her teeth. "Remember what we talked about before Chat Noir got here? Yeah...I take it back. You're definitely going to have shippers."

Marinette rolled her eyes and groaned. "Sorry, Chat. You're already shipped with Ladybug so much; now you'll be associated with me. My fans are kind of obsessed with shipping."

Chat Noir laughed and stood up. "It's okay; I'm used to it. Besides, it's all in good fun," He shrugged. "But I should get going, I've got to meet up with Ladybug tonight and have to take a break before then," He said. "But I really do want a copy of the drawing, and I can't wait to see the video when it's finished!" He smiled and walked closer to the trap door. "It was nice to see both of you again, and hopefully we can make another video!"

Alya waved awkwardly as Marinette said 'goodbye,' and Chat Noir propelled himself out of the door. Once he was gone, Marinette looked to Alya. "Do you really think people are going to go crazy over this?"

"One hundred percent."

 

 


	15. 15 - Preparing for Alya’s Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Alya's birthday! To make her 18th birthday perfect, Marinette has Adrien over to help set up as Nino works on the other side of the plan. Once Adrien and Marinette see the camera, they get a little distracted. Will they get all the preparations done before the party starts?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some fluff and ship material. god i love writing their dynamic.

Early Saturday morning, there was a knock on the bakery door. The bakery opened a little later on the weekends, but Marinette was up for a special occasion. Her parents would be waking shortly to help, as well.

Marinette went over to the door and quickly opened it, grabbing the wrist of the person outside and dragging him in. "I hope no one was watching because that entire thing looked...very weird from an outside perspective," Adrien commented.

"It's the weekend. Most of Paris isn't awake yet," She reasoned. "Thanks for coming so early. I let my parents sleep in because you were able to come over," She told him. "We have a lot to get together, and Nino will be calling me soon to reassure his side of the plan. This is going to be Alya's best birthday ever."

Adrien smiled as he followed Marinette into the kitchen. "How did your video with Chat Noir go?" He asked. It was only two days ago they recorded, and she has not released the video yet. In reality, Adrien was genuinely curious about how she thought it went, as he had so much fun with it.

Marinette shrugged. "It was awesome. We've come across each other every once in a while, and sometimes he stops by when I'm on my balcony, and he happens to be out, so we've talked. It was like just shooting a video with a friend. But..." Marinette sighed. "I'm debating if I should even release it."

"What? Why?" Adrien gasped. Was she really that disappointed with him and the video?

"Don't get me wrong; the video was amazing. I'm just worried about the fans," She told him. "You know what it was like when we became closer friends, and you started appearing in my videos. Every video, even if you aren't in it, has comments about how we should be together. I can't post a tweet or a photo on Instagram without people talking about  _Adrienette_ ," Marinette said. "I don't want Chat Noir to have to go through that. He already deals with it with Ladybug, and I'm afraid the comments could get personal, trying to figure out who he is, and just never-ending shipping," Marinette rambled as she moved boxes around.

Adrien stared at her, trying to comprehend everything she said. "Do you...do you know who he is?"

She shook her head. "No, but I'd like to say we're friends. I don't want to put him through all the stress-"

"You've said yourself he's a fan. Alya said he was really excited to do the video and work with you, right? If he were so worried about the fans, he wouldn't do anything public. He wouldn't stop to talk to citizens, let alone do a video with you. But he does both; I don't think it's anything you should be worried about," Adrien put his hand on her shoulder, a comforting smile.

Marinette nodded slowly. "You're right. I'm just stressing with everything on my plate right now. Plus, I probably should post the video. I don't want to disappoint him! He said he was going to have a viewing with Ladybug," She giggled.

Adrien laughed along, opening a box Marinette handed him. Though he was hiding it on the inside, he couldn't remember telling Marinette or Alya he was going to watch the video with Ladybug as soon as it came out. He brushed it off, though, as he has also been super busy and had a lot on his mind. "Sounds like you've got your answer, then," Adrien told her.

"Thank you, Adrien," She said. "Now, we need to pull out every piece of party supplies and decorations we can find. We're decorating the whole bakery- inside and out," Marinette directed. "So let's get digging!" She said and started pulling out a few streamers and unopened packs of napkins.

Adrien started looking through the box and saw Marinette's camera sitting on the table a few feet away. "Hey, Mari, were you going to record today?" He called over to her.

She sighed in thought. "I was planning to, but I don't know. I keep going back and forth- maybe this is something we need to enjoy ourselves," She began rambling again. "What do you think?"

"I think you should. Maybe for your second channel, though," Adrien turned to her. "I mean, she does so much behind the camera for you, maybe this is a chance to celebrate her  _on_  camera," He suggested.

Marinette perked up. "You know, that's an excellent idea."

Adrien snatched the camera off the table. "I'll start!" He pressed the record button with a huge smile on his face, mentally switching into English. "Hey! I'm Adrien!" He copied Marinette's introduction as she rolled her eyes in the background. "Today is Alya's birthday. So, Marinette and I are awake before most of Paris to prepare for her day. She's turning 18, and this is our last big thing before we're back at school after the spring break," He explained. 

Marinette cleared her throat to remind him that she is also there. "Oh, yeah, Marinette's here," He pointed the camera to her.

Marinette shook her head. "I think you covered it all," She said, giving him a pat on the back. "Good job."

"So what I'm hearing is it's my channel now," Adrien winked.

"Yeah, right!" Marinette shouted, jumping up to grab the camera.

Adrien laughed and held the camera as high as he could. It was clear Marinette couldn't reach it, as Adrien is so much taller than Marinette. He was nonstop laughing as she continued to try to get her camera back. "Adrien, I could take you down right now," She told him. "Small, but mighty."

"I do not doubt that, Mari," Adrien stopped laughing and handed her back the camera, but there was still a big smile on her face.

"What are you two doing?" Sabine chuckled as she walked down the stairs behind them. "You're going to wake up the whole street."

Marinette cringed. "Sorry, mom. Guess we were just having too much fun getting things together."

Sabine nodded. "Well, your father is going to start the cake soon, and you know he needs the space if we're going to pull off what you want for Alya. So grab the boxes and head out front?" She told them. Marinette shut off the camera and her and Adrien picked up boxes and walked out of the kitchen.

"We do tend to get a little distracted when there's a camera around," Marinette told Adrien.

"It's instinct. A fashion model, and a Youtuber: we're natural camera addicts!" Adrien laughed. "Oh my gosh, you guys have Ladybug and Chat Noir party supplies?"

Marinette stood next to him as he pulled the supplies out of the box. "Of course. You remember who we're throwing the party for, right?"

Adrien nodded at the plates, napkins, and pack of balloons he pulled out. "I didn't realize they had party supplies for Ladybug and Chat Noir," He said. "But it's kind of awesome."

"Yeah, you know they're everywhere. I also got red and black banners, green and black cups, and cupcake toppers to stick in the cake with Ladybug on it. Like I said, best birthday ever," Marinette said with pride. It had always been a little weird to have her best friend idolize her superhero form, but she knew Alya was a genuine fan of the heroes of Paris. Marinette knew that, and it was proven even more when Alya gave up her temporary Miraculous, when she really didn't want to. But she couldn't let Ladybug down.

Adrien grabbed the camera again and started recording. "Did you guys know that they sell Ladybug and Chat Noir party decor? Crazy!" Adrien showed the camera. In the background, Marinette was standing on a chair to hang streamers and a banner- the words  _HAPPY BIRTHDAY_  sitting on the table next to her.

Her phone rang at full blast, and Marinette screamed in shock. "Mari!" Adrien shouted, setting down the camera and running over to her and she almost fell off the chair. She put her arms out to the side to try to catch her balance and the chair only wobbled. After being so clumsy, and learning the fast reflexes of a superhero, she had gotten good at catching herself. "Good catch," He complimented her.

Marinette nodded her head and pulled her phone out of her pocket. "Oh, it's Nino," She paused and answered it. "Hey, Nino. You heading to Alya's?"

"Yeah, what time do you want us to come to the bakery?" Nino asked, and Marinette put him on speaker.

"Everyone will be here around eleven, so maybe eleven-thirty? We'll have everything set up by then, and all the food and desserts will be ready," Marinette told him.

"Maybe!" Adrien added. "We keep getting distracted with vlogging," He told Nino.

They could almost  _hear_  Nino's eye roll. "Sounds like you guys. But let's make sure that everything actually gets done."

"We could never let Alya down!" Marinette told Nino. "We'll see you guys soon."

 


	16. 16 - Surprise Party for Alya

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Alya's birthday and she is arriving to her party! They celebrate her birthday and true friendship. Marinette and Adrien are giving the fans much more shipping material, and Marinette finally posts the highly-anticipated video.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so busy I'm running out of time to write buuuut these next few chapters are real fun. I love writing this story, and I hope you enjoy reading it!

As Nino was distracting Alya, all of her friends were showing up at the bakery. Marinette and Adrien had most of the decorations set up, no thanks to the vlogging, but it was looking good! The tables had red and black tablecloths, flower centerpieces, and hanging decorations were all over the room.

"This looks great, Marinette!" Rose told her, looking around the room.

Rose pulled her into a hug after a few seconds. "It would not have looked as good without Adrien's help!"

"Good thing he was there, then," She said. "Alya's going to love it!"

"I hope so," Marinette said. "Or else she'd have a pretty boring birthday."

Rose giggled and turned to talk to another person passing by. She admired the work in the bakery and looked around at all her friends chatting and already having fun. There were only a few minutes until the plan would go into action; Nino was going to text her once they started getting close, and everyone would hide. Though Marinette was a little anxious that the plan wouldn't work, she was still excited nonetheless.

"Here we have Mari, admiring all of my hard work," Adrien's voice approached Marinette from behind, startling her a little. He was holding her camera, yet again, with a wide smile on his face. She chuckled and shook her head at Adrien. "What, you don't like me vlogging for you?"

"I don't like that you're better at it than me," Marinette confessed, instinctively speaking in English.

Adrien giggled from behind the camera. "So what you're saying is I can have your channel?"

"No way!" She shouted, turning around quickly to grab the camera out of Adrien's hands. "Adrien! Give it back!" She screamed, back in French. She chased Adrien around until he realized he was taller, and could just hold it above him and Marinette wouldn't be able to get it from him. She jumped at it, saying slightly rude things in French. Once Adrien was laughing as hard as he could, Marinette stopped and stared at him, mentally switching back to English. "I will throw you across Paris, Adrien."

He shook his head and lowered the camera. "I don't think I want that to happen, Mari," He said, giving her back the camera. "You win."

Just as she got her camera back with a smirk, she got the text from Nino. "They're almost here!" She shouted to the group, and everyone ran to their pre-planned hiding spots. Some hid behind the counter, some next to the display case. She set the camera on the table, pointed towards the door to get Alya's reaction. Marinette was wrapped in one of the curtains for the windows, Adrien in the other one. The lights were dimmed, and the "open" sign was turned on for only these few minutes. 

Everyone had party hats on, and either had confetti poppers or one of the whistles to make noise when she would enter. Even her parents hid behind the door to the backroom, ready to surprise their daughter's best friend. Only a few minutes after they all got into position, the door opened slowly as Alya and Nino's voices were heard in the bakery. Before Alya even knew what was happening, all of her friends jumped out and screamed "Surprise!" while pulling the confetti poppers, or making various noises. Alya's hand covered her mouth, and tears were welling in her eyes before bursting into fits of laughter.

"You guys normally don't get me, but you did!" She called out. 

Marinette put her arm around Alya with a sly smile. "It's been a work in progress for  _months_  to get this to work," She said. "It's your eighteenth birthday, we had to go big," Marinette said. "We got lucky your birthday landed on a Saturday this year," She explained. Even though the camera was recording, she was speaking in French with her friends. It would just mean subtitles would come into play when editing. 

"How have you been planning this for months?" Alya chuckled. 

Adrien piped up. "Marinette told Nino and me about this plan a few months ago. We had to make sure you would have no idea we were planning a surprise party. We had to convince you so much so that I forgot that it was part of the plan- I was starting to think we weren't doing it!" He laughed. "We kept mentioning things about your birthday, dropping hints about what we were planning, and it was everything  _but_  a party. I'm happy to say Mari's plan worked!"

Marinette smiled at her best friend as Alya tried to figure it all out. Marinette waltzed over to grab her camera, and stuck it in Alya's face. "So, we did surprise you? Nino didn't spill the beans?" She asked.

"Yes, you did. I'm still confused about how Nino didn't somehow mention it to me," Alya glanced at Nino. "Normally, he's terrible at keeping secrets from me."

"This one was important," Nino justified. "Plus, as Adrien said, we did so much to convince you that we weren't having a party that I think I convinced myself until about yesterday," He confessed.

The group burst into laughter, and there were smiles all over the room. Marinette's parents brought out the food and the giant cake, and the rest of Alya's friends showed her to her pile of presents from everyone. After a few minutes of capturing this celebratory day, Marinette put the camera down and just enjoyed the time she had with her friends. Yet, something wasn't sitting right in her mind. 

It had been too peaceful these past few days.

\---

As soon as Marinette pressed  _upload_  on her newest video, she knew people were going to freak out and lose their minds. She saved the video for a few days, and once it was finally ready, she listened to Adrien and Alya and got over it and posted the video.

Immediately, views were racking up, and people were commenting. Her fan base had no idea she was planning this, and she was ready to witness the craziness of the comments.

_NO WAY THIS IS HAPPENING_

_play this video at my funeral_

_how...hoW DID MARINETTE KEEP THIS A SECRET?_

_Wowie look at those connections! Such fantastic art with such a fantastic duo!! LOVE IT_

_oh, no...my shipping heart...who do I ship now?_

_First._

_Their dynamic is like they've known each other for years. I mean, I guess they kind of have. I wonder if Marinette knows him under the mask?_

_Chat Noir surprisingly speaks English really well. Honestly was not expecting it to be that good._

_OH GOSH...ADRIEN OR CHAT? MARINETTE, WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO OUR HEARTS? btw loved the video_

Marinette giggled at some of the comments that were already piling in. Without another thought, she called for Tikki. As soon as she transformed, she jumped off her balcony to run around the rooftops of Paris to find a certain kitty-cat that would want to watch the video. She did make a promise to him...

 

 


	17. 17 - Alya Made Us Do It...Reading Fanfiction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Noir and Ladybug watch the video Chat got to be in, and he is excited out of his mind! Following that, Marinette gives Alya a fun gift for their friendship anniversary- does she regret it? Even if she does, her fans will still freak out over the gift.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i LOVE writing the comments on Mari's videos. they're so much fun to just fangirl and i live for it. also i went from having no pre written parts to like 5 so yall better be ready some shiz is about to start

Ladybug walked the rooftops as she waited for Chat Noir to appear. She knew he would, he was so excited about the video, and she knew he wanted her to see it.

It was only a few minutes of Ladybug walking around until she heard Chat Noir land behind her. "Ladybug! She posted the video!" He called out to her.

"Why else would I be out here? I want to see it," Ladybug replied.

"Perfect," Chat Noir nodded to the bag around his shoulder. "I brought a screen a little bigger than your yo-yo," He chuckled.

The two found a secluded spot so they could sit and watch the video, and Chat Noir was buzzing with excitement. He was grateful that Marinette decided to upload the video, despite all the people that would ship them together. He, as Adrien, knew she was unsure of posting it, and he was glad he could convince her to go through with it.

He pulled his computer out of the bag and quickly pulled up the video. "Hey! I'm Marinette!" The video started, a big smile on Chat's face. Marinette had already seen this video a hundred times through editing, but it was a whole different experience hearing Chat Noir talk about everything that went on and pause the video every few seconds.

Marinette had yet to look at many of the comments, since she had only posted it a few minutes before, but she was sure it was already flooded. She saw the few before she transformed, but she was sure more were produced by the second.

She was excited that Chat Noir was so happy with the video and she knew he would be talking to her about it for the next month.

\---

Directly following Alya's birthday was her's and Marinette's friendship anniversary. They had a nice dinner together and watched all the movies they could get in on a school night, bringing it back to the times before life got crazy.

But now, a day after, it was the real-time for Marinette to give Alya her present. She told Alya a few weeks ago she could choose a video topic for them, and she was not going to veto it. Marinette got her a  _real_  gift as well, but this was a bonus. She regretted it immediately when she saw Alya's sinister smile.

For some reason, Adrien and Nino were also there for the video. This only worried Marinette more about what Alya picked to do.

"Hi! I'm Marinette!" She greeted the camera as her three friends sat around her. "And I have no clue what we are doing today. For our friendship anniversary, I let her choose a video, and I had to go through with it. All I know is that she has a sinister look, a bulky folder, and Nino and Adrien are here," She said as the boys waved and turned to Alya. "Would you care to explain?"

Alya rubbed her hands together and held the folder against her chest. "I've seen a lot of YouTuber's do this, and I have been  _dying_  to get you to do it, but I knew you would never agree," She set up the scene. "I love your fanbase; everyone is great. I scoured the internet for the best things for this video, and have selected five. We are reading fanfiction about us," Alya declared.

"What?" Marinette screamed as Adrien and Nino started giggling in the background.

"Trust me, boys, neither of you are safe," Alya confirmed to them. "And Nino, just because we're together doesn't mean you get it easy. There is only one  _Alya 'x' Nino_ , and it's in the background of an Adrienette story," Alya winked, then turned back to the camera. "Yes, I have read these to make sure they are suitable. And yes, I have a secret Marinette fan account."

Marinette sat in embarrassment with her head in her hands, not sure how this whole event would go. Alya opened the folder and passed around scripts. "We'll start easy," She said, and on the top of the paper, it read  _ALYANETTE_. "The only ship in this is Marinette and me; you guys are just extra characters."

Nino sat back in his chair. "Oh, thank god."

"Just wait, Nino," Alya joked to her boyfriend. Adrien was quiet, not sure how to react to this whole situation. He was surprised Marinette was actually letting Alya go through with this.

"Let's just get this over with," Marinette said as she tried to hide her beet-red face. "Who's narrating?"

Adrien looked up. "I can," He volunteered. And with that, the story began.

Marinette felt like she was having an out of body experience reading the lines and acting out with her friends. She had ideas of what Alya could have chosen, but nothing prepared her for all that was to come. The one between her and Alya was adorable, and she wasn't too nervous, but it was when she brought out the one with  _ADRIENETTE_ written on the top. Marinette had  _mainly_  got over her crush on Adrien since they are such good friends now, but the butterflies in her stomach proved different.

Alya started narrating as the scene was being set up and she could tell they were getting nervous to read their parts. Luckily, it started out with Nino and Alya talking about getting the two together, so it gave them some time to prepare mentally. Alya was  _eating this up_ , because she would do this exact thing in the story if she could. Marinette knows her plans and can stop her before she even starts, trying to prove she doesn't like Adrien like that anymore.

Between the tomato colored faces and slight stuttering, Alya was sure this was going to cause never-ending stories about them, and she was perfectly happy with that. She did, however, let them finish the story a little earlier because it was becoming a bit much. "I'll let you guys off the hook this time, but that's become I'm about to pull out the big guns!" She pulled out her next story, with a big  _MARICHAT_  written on the top. "Of course, I will be playing the role of Chat Noir. I have figured out the Ladybug and Chat Noir fanfiction writers have come up with how they are outside of costume. And for some reason, they believe Chat Noir's name is Felix. So, I will be portraying Felix Noir," Alya winked at Marinette.

Adrien felt a sigh of relief wash over him when Alya said she would be reading for Chat Noir. Sure, she had no reason to make him read for Chat, but it was still freaking him out with the possibility. He's pretty sure he blacked out while that whole story was being read.

The team suffered through Alya's evil plans as they finished reading the stories. The second Adrienette story was more fluff, and it seemed like it was an all-around friends story, it didn't hit too much romance, which was a nice break. The last story came out of nowhere: A Nino and Marinette story. Some people really liked the idea that they've known each other the longest in the group and would write about that. There were only a few, but all of them were adorable. It was probably the most fun for the group to read.

"And...that was my last one," Alya announced and let the group breath. "For now. If the people like this though, maybe we'll do one of those Tumblr things where we look up our names and ships to see what people post! Right, Marinette?" She pleaded, making puppy-dog eyes.

Marinette sighed loudly. "If it's what the people want," She gave in. "Make sure to leave a comment if you'd like us to do something like this again in the future. And don't forget to like and subscribe for more! You can check out all our social media with the links on our faces, or all of our information in the description. Thank you guys for watching, and this was a lesson never to give Alya control over a video again!" Marinette ended, getting up to shut off the camera.

Switching back into French mode, she grabbed a pillow and screamed into it. "NEVER LET ALYA CONTROL THINGS AGAIN!"

"But it was so much fun!" Alya argued, also back in French.

"Interesting is the word," Adrien said.

Nino sat there, staring as he waited for this whole day to be over. He was scarred.

\---

_ALYA KNOWS WHAT WE WANT AND WE WANT FANFICTION i need them on tumblr next_

_i literally ship all of these this was the best video i have ever watched thank you Alya you are a god_

_im still stuck on the fact that Alya says she has a fan account for Marinette. She's among us. you can't trust anyone!!!_

_I have a feeling Marinette knows Chat Noir's true identity. When Alya starts talking about the fandom's names for them, she tensed up when she talked about Felix. Is this a hint that his name is actually felix? Or confirmation that it isnt? Either way, she knows_

_So marinette when are you gonna tell us you and chat noir are a thing_

_mariNETTE DO YOU KNOW WHO CHAT NOIR IS? ARE YOU GUYS TOGETHER?_

_i would literally do anything for her to tell us she knows who chat is and/or confirm the rumors of their relationship_

_You aren't even trying to hide it anymore that you and chat noir are dating, are you? First, the video with him. You always defend him to the end. Then we get some pictures of chat leaving your balcony. Now we get you reading a fanfic of you and him. give up the secret already!_

_Me: I love adrienette and would die for them_  
_You: *indirectly makes it clear that you and chat noir are dating*_  
_Me: I love adreinette and would die for them_

_To all you people saying marichat is a thing, don't you realize they only read one marichat fic but TWO adrienette fics? If anything, adrienette is more likely. that or alya is just pushing them lol_

_marinette please confirm or deny your relationship status. it's tearing the fandom apart with all the debates. please. also, the fandom is exploding bc people think you know who chat noir is. please confirm or deny before we all split!!!_

Marinette sat back in shock as she read the sea of comments on the fanfiction video. Where was all of this coming from? What did she do to imply she knows Chat Noir under the mask, let alone make her fans think they are dating? She was freaking out, and as much as Tikki tried to calm her down, nothing was working. She needed to talk to someone, and knew Alya was stressed about school and probably sleeping. Scrolling back up past her name, she clicked the second "A" contact in her list. She just needed someone to talk to.

 


	18. 18 - MTV Cribs with Adrien

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette calls Adrien for advice. At school, it's time for a project and Marinette and Adrien are lucky enough to be paired together. Though the project is easy, the time spent in the Agreste Household was not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love the end of this chapter its so much fun. have some fluff before the angst-y-ish climax :)))

Marinette knew she woke Adrien up, and she felt incredibly guilty. No matter how many times she insisted that she let him get back to sleep, he wouldn't listen to her and wanted to talk. "I'm fine, Marinette. You didn't even wake me up. What's wrong?" He asked.

"Really, Adrien, if you were asleep, I won't bother you. We can talk tomorrow," She tried once more.

"What's wrong?" Adrien asked, sitting at his computer.

She sighed, finally giving in. "Just the comments on the new video. People are bombarding me, saying I know his identity or that we're dating. People are even fighting about  _who_  I'm dating: you or Chat Noir," Marinette told him. She was still scrolling through the comments, reading the never-ending sloo of questions and demands. Tikki was sitting beside her, reading along, and trying to comfort.

"Do you know Chat Noir's identity?" Adrien asked.

"No!" She groaned. "Why would I know that? He's just a friend," She calmed down and took a deep breath.

Adrien chuckled. "Just checking. And unless I'm a terrible friend, I don't think you're dating Chat Noir or me, right?"

"Right..." She said, confused about where he was going with this.

Pulling up Twitter on his computer, she could hear Adrien beginning to type. "So then this should be easy. Make a post on Twitter and your Instagram story. Simply say you and Chat Noir are only friends and you don't know his identity, and that you and I are not dating. I'll even tweet something about us only being friends, okay?" Adrien said. "Simple as that, yeah?"

"Hopefully," Marinette responded quietly, also pulling up Twitter on her computer. "My fans are a little crazy about all this shipping stuff."

Adrien shook his head with a little laugh. "Very true. But maybe it will calm most of them down with this kind of stuff," He reasoned.

_Marinette Dupain-Cheng @MarinetteDC_  
_I am not dating Adrien Agreste. I am not dating Chat Noir. I do not know Chat Noir's identity._

As Marinette pressed  _tweet_ , she let go of a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Thanks, Adrien. I don't know what I would do if you didn't pick up."

"You know I'm always here! Gotta help my best friend in her time of need," He said, and Marinette could hear the smile in his voice.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow. Thanks, again," Marinette told him, and by the second, she could feel her eyes getting heavier. "Get some sleep, too!"

"I'll try," He said. "Goodnight, Mari. Glad I could help." And with that, they ended the call, and Adrien went back to finish watching her newest video.

Plagg popped up from behind her. "You sure you don't have a crush on her?"

Adrien paused the video again. "Plagg, I don't. And even if I did, you heard her. We're just friends!"

"I happen to remember you calling her your best friend. She  _only_  said you guys weren't dating," Plagg tormented.

Rolling his eyes, Adrien held up a piece of camembert to shut him up.

\---

Adrien walked into the classroom to see Marinette burying her head in her hands as Alya had a sinister smile on her face. "Come on, girl. I saw the comments; I can't not ask these questions."

"For the last time, no, I don't know who Chat Noir is. Why would you think that? If I did, you would know if I knew. You know when I'm hiding something," Marinette reasoned. "I mean, I wouldn't tell you  _who_  he is, but you would know I know," She said, never removing her head out of her hands.

Adrien chuckled as he took his seat next to Nino. "Give her a break, Alya," Adrien pleaded.

Alya sighed. "Fine. You're off the hook this time," She gave in.

Marinette finally lifted her head and mouthed  _thank you_  jokingly to Adrien. Only a few seconds later, Mme. Bustier walked in to begin class. She collected homework and began talking about the next area they would be studying. It started off with a small project due in three days, and she was explaining the group work. She put everyone in pairs, and began writing the list on the board that she prepared before class.

Luckily, she went with putting friends together. Nino and Alya were grouped, and Marinette and Adrien were excited to be together. Nino and Marinette switched seats, and they were pleased with their partners. It was the best-case scenario!

"So, do you want to come over after school to work on this?" Marinette asked.

Adrien cringed. "My father doesn't like how much time I've been out of the house. He wanted me home immediately today," Adrien warned. "But, you can come with me? He'll be working, and if it's for a project, Nathalie and Gorilla won't mind. It  _is_  school work."

Marinette nodded. "Sounds great."

After getting excited about their project together, the school day went by quick, and Marinette and Adrien were standing out front to be picked up by the bodyguard. They were cracking jokes with Alya and Nino before they departed to Alya's house to work on their own project. Chloé even came up and tried to pull Adrien away from Marinette- though she knew it wouldn't work. She was too far behind, and she had seen the videos of them, there was no breaking up their friendship anymore.

Once she gave up, Adrien's car pulled up, and the two walked up. Gorilla rolled down the window, and Adrien smiled wide. "You've met Marinette before, right? We have a project together, and since Father wants me to stop spending so much time out of the house, we will be doing the project at our house. It has to be done, we only have two days, and I have a photoshoot tomorrow," Adrien started pitching what needed to be done. "If Father has any questions, he can refer to my assignment sheet or call Mrs. Bustier," Adrien nodded to finish his statement, and opened the back door for Marinette to slid in.

Gorilla, as usual, did not say anything. Instead, he only nodded and started driving to the Agreste Mansion. Adrien knew his father would not be happy if he knew about this, but he also knew that Gorilla had a soft spot and wouldn't say anything.

\---

Marinette followed Adrien around his room, MTV Cribs style, showing off his luxuries. They quickly got the project done and were now making a video. It was a new change of scenery, and Adrien loved having a friend over. Though they told Nathalie they were still working on the project; she wouldn't have even cared. They were just banking on Adrien's father to not come in.

As Adrien showed off his room, they both knew he wasn't bragging. They were making a fun video with Marinette's commentary behind the camera. Every few minutes, Adrien would grab a random accessory from his closet and put on a different character and continue taking Marinette around the room, acting as he felt that character would.

The video was filled with laughs, and the two were clearly having fun acting. As Adrien pulled a black tie and a pair of dark sunglasses on, the room tour was finished. "Well, let me show you the rest of the mansion," He pulled on a series voice, adjusting his tie. "I'm Adrien Agreste, ever heard of me?" He winked at the camera. He opened his room door, and Marinette followed Adrien out as he started rambling and naming random things.

They both knew Adrien had very little idea of what he was talking about. He was pointing at paintings on the wall, making up words in French, and in English as he explained it all. At the end of the hallway, Adrien threw the tie off and ran down the steps. "Hurry, Mari! We can't be late!" He shouted as Marinette followed in a pit of laughter.

They ran back and forth on the first floor, laughing loud as Marinette chased Adrien with her camera. In the foyer, they were stopped when they heard a loud cough.

Adrien stopped as quickly as he could, and Marinette ran into him as they turned to look at where the cough came from. Gabriel was standing at the top of the steps with Nathalie off to the side, both of them looking disappointed.

"Adrien, what is going on?" Gabriel asked, not acknowledging Marinette.

Adrien took a deep breath and removed the sunglasses. "Marinette and I were grouped for a school project. I know you wanted me to come home after school, so I brought her along so we could work on it, Father," Adrien responded.

Gabriel's emotion didn't change. "The project involves you running around the house while screaming, and you being chased by a camera?" He inquired.

Adrien dropped his head. "No, Father. We finished the project and decided to make a video for Marinette's YouTube channel. They're a lot of fun, and we got caught up in the moment," He explained. "I'm sorry we were running and being loud. I'm sorry we disturbed you."

"The project is finished?" Gabriel asked.

"Yes," Adrien nodded, looking back up at Gabriel.

Gabriel looked good Nathalie, then back to Adrien. "Good. You have some piano pieces to practice." Gabriel turned his gaze to Marinette. "Put the camera away when you are in my house. Adrien was foolish to let you bring it; he should know it is unsafe for our privacy."

The two stood there, waiting for Gabriel and Nathalie to leave again so they could walk back to Adrien's room without it being awkward. Gabriel glanced down at his watch, then back to Marinette. "It's getting late. You should be getting home, Miss Dupain-Cheng," Gabriel said. With that, he finally turned and left Marinette and Adrien alone in the foyer.

They turned to each other. "I'm sorry," They said at the same time, then giggled slightly.

As they started the walk back to Adrien's room, Marinette sighed. "I think your dad just kicked me out."

Adrien shook his head. "He doesn't want me having  _fun_ , as you can see," Adrien said. "He shouldn't have gotten angry with you. It was my fault. We shouldn't have even left my room, but it was having fun playing all those characters."

Marinette furrowed her eyebrows. "I'm not worried that he was assertive with me. I think he treated you poorly, though. That situation totally could have been handled much better," She reasoned.

"That's my father for you," He smiled slowly. Back in Adrien's room, he helped Marinette father her things. "I'm glad the project was easy. And I did really have fun with the video. You could post the part of my bedroom, just cut it before we go out in the hallway," He told her.

Marinette nodded. "Maybe I'll wait a few days in case your father does see it," She said. "But I had fun, too. Somehow we always have a good time making videos together!" She smiled. "But next time, let's make sure we do the videos, not at your house."

"That's probably a good idea."

 


	19. 19 - Disastrous Live Stream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien knows how to sneak around without his father figuring out, and helps Alya and Marinette out with something. This leads to stories, and the fans get a little crazy. What could make this day even better?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one's a little longer! Lots to fit into this part before the chapter >:) I love writing this story sm

Only a few days after the  _experience_  at the Agreste Mansion, Adrien finished a photoshoot early and managed to convince Gorilla to take him to Marinette's house. Gorilla, though he wouldn't admit it, was an enabler and loved to see Adrien having friends his own age and enjoying his extra time. It was a nice change from having Adrien cooped up in the mansion all day. Gabriel would never blame Gorilla either, if he ever found out.

Nathalie knew about his "extra free time" but pretended she had no clue what was going on with Adrien. She also enjoyed that Adrien had friends, and he was having fun outside of work and his clubs. Gabriel barely noticed anyway, and Adrien could usually pass an extra hour or two as his activity for the day running over.

Marinette, Alya, and Adrien were sitting on the floor in Marinette's bedroom, watching the uncut footage from Adrien's MTV Cribs joke video. Of course, Marinette did cut out the end, in case anyone were to find it. She was going to respect Adrien's and Gabriel's privacy and get rid of what they told her to. Though, she did keep the rest of the video on a hidden USB drive, in case she needed blackmail for anything. 

"Oh, you cut out the end already?" Adrien asked when the video ended.

"Just wanted to be safe," Marinette shrugged.

Alya raised an eyebrow. "What happened that you cut out?"

"His dad essentially threw me out," She said. "He didn't like that we were running around his house with a camera."

Alya's jaw dropped as she held back her laughs. "And I thought he liked you!"

"Not anymore," Marinette giggled.

Cutting off the conversation, Alya's phone alarm went off. "Oh my gosh! I completely forgot!" Alya gasped. "We posted that you would be doing an Instagram Live at four o'clock today!"

Marinette looked confused, but then she gasped as well once she remembered. "We did, didn't we? I don't even have anything prepared to talk about!"

"Don't fret, girl. I have emergency interview questions stored in my phone, and in my head. Give me your phone, and we'll pull this off," Alya calmed Marinette and took her phone. Alya hooked the phone up to the computer so Marinette could see the comments and see herself, and in only a few minutes, they would start the live stream. "Adrien, do you want to be in it, too? People always love it when you're doing things with us."

Adrien checked his phone for the time. He still had over an hour before he needed to be home, so his father would not be suspicious. "Sure, I'd love to," Adrien said as Alya pointed the camera at Marinette.

"Great," She smiled. "Going live in twenty seconds."

Alya counted down from five on her fingers, and Marinette smiled wide once the people started rolling into the stream. "Hi, I'm Marinette!" She greeted. "We're trying something new today, if you can't tell. We are doing our first prepared live stream!"

"And we say prepared as we kind of forgot about it," Alya turned the camera on herself. "But being the master journalist that I am, I am always prepared for things like this," She nodded, and turned the camera back around. 

Marinette giggled at Alya. "And, we have Adrien here!" She introduced. "I know how much you guys love him."

"While we let some comments and questions roll in, I'll start off," Alya said. "Marinette, what have you been working on design-wise?"

Marinette thought for a second. "A lot of Jagged Stone covers. They're non-stop. I've got a few in their final stages, so hopefully we can release one soon!" She said. "But other than Jagged, I'm working on some more simple pieces of clothes for the main channel, some just to watch, some for tutorials. It's going to be a fun-filled couple of months," Marinette smiled as she finished her answer.

"The covers are looking amazing. I can't wait for them to come out," Adrien added.

Alya asked a few more YouTube and work-based questions as the fan comments rolled in to ask more personal, juicer things. "First fan question: How's school going?" Alya asked.

With a shrug, Marinette furrowed her eyebrows. "It's school, it's boring, but we're getting through it. We start hearing back from universities soon, and that's exciting. We just had a project, and Adrien and I were paired together, and we will never do another project at his house again," She laughed, Adrien nodding along.

"Can I ask it?" Alya mouthed and pointed to a particular question. Marinette gave a small nod, knowing she needed to really address it. "Marinette, are you and Chat Noir dating?"

Marinette sighed. "I addressed this on Twitter, but I know a lot of you probably didn't see it. I am  _very_  single; Not dating Chat Noir, not dating Adrien, not dating anyone," She said. "They're both terrific friends, and I value having them in my life, but I really need you guys to stop harassing them about this," Marinette finished.

"And you don't know Chat Noir's identity, right?" Adrien added.

"Right. I have literally zero idea of who he is," She clarified. "We're friends, but I would never want to invade his privacy like that," She put on another smile as she wanted this question to end badly. "And with that, we are done talking about who I'm dating, or secret identities."

Alya looked for another comment that wasn't relating to Chat Noir. "Ooh, someone thanked me for the fanfiction video. You're welcome; I give the people what they want."

"That video was scarring," Adrien shivered. "I think I blacked out during a few of them."

"That's partially what made it so good!" Alya evilly laughed, and quickly deferred to another comment. "What was the project about that you two worked on?"

Adrien put his hand up to answer. "It was a classic history project. We researched a period of time and made a presentation on it. It wasn't too boring, and we finished it really quick- then we made a video that may forever stay in the archives," He winked. "And  _then_  we decided all future projects would be done at Marinette's house."

She nodded. "I think that was the most embarrassed I've been in a long time."

Alya groaned as she read more comments. "Guys, stop asking about Chat Noir," She dragged out the end of his name. "Marinette doesn't want me to give her those, but that's like eighty-percent of the questions," She laughed. "She doesn't know who he is- oh, here's one. What happened at the Agreste Mansion that you guys will never do another project there?"

They both burst out laughing. Adrien was laughing too much, so Marinette decided she would tell the story. "We did our project, totally normal. Then we started filming a video of Adrien showing me around his room, but he was using a bunch of different characters," She began the story. "We ran out of room to film, so we went into the hallway. Long story short, his dad was not too happy with me chasing his son around with a camera- let alone even have a camera in the house."

"Then he told me to go practice piano and that it was getting late, so Marinette needed to leave," Adrien finished. "Man, it was so embarrassing to have your father get upset with you...and your friend," He shook his head. "He did the same with Nino once, when Nino tried to throw me my first birthday party. And that was the same day Nino got akumatized!" Adrien shook his head. "Classic  _dad_."

Though the three of them didn't think much of the story, the fans sure did. As Alya continued to ask questions, fans in the comments were getting riled up.

_honestly fuck gabriel agreste_

_hold on...adrien's FIRST birthday party?? how did he never have a party? what??_

_cancel gabriel agreste for being mean to the two best people in the world_

_he...kicked marinette out...for having fun?_

_I mean I get the whole camera thing but seriously? cancel him_

_he got nINO AKUMATIZED?? RIOT_

_#LetAdrienHaveFriends_

_so does this mean i should return my gabriel clothes_

Marinette could see the comments coming through on her computer. "What are you guys talking about? Gabriel Agreste? I'm not mad about the whole situation; it's actually pretty funny. Don't take it so seriously," She chuckled, and they moved on.

After a few more questions, it was nearly impossible for them to find any that didn't relate to Gabriel Agreste or Chat Noir. "Maybe this is a good spot to end at," Marinette said. "I don't want you guys getting riled up, so I think it's time to stop the live stream for today," She concluded. "But! Thank you guys so much for watching, even if it got a little crazy at some points, but I appreciate all that could make it!" She began her outro- but was cut off by loud noises coming from outside. All three of them stood up to check the window, but before they could even get a glance, the roof of Marinette's room was pulled off and thrown across the town.

"What the-!" Adrien cut himself off, back in French.

"Oh my gosh, perfect for the Ladyblog!" Alya set Marinette's phone down and grabbed out her own. "You guys go hide, I've got to get this!" 

Adrien grabbed Marinette's hand and pulled her down the steps. They both rushed into the bakery to make sure Marinette's parents were okay. "What happened? Are you guys okay? We saw Alya sprint out of here with her phone," Tom asked as he pulled both of them into a hug.

"Akuma took off with my roof," Marinette said, trying to figure out how she would get out of this so she could transform. "We should probably evacuate...who knows what the Akuma is after."

Adrien pulled out his phone. "Looks like he's after my father," He sighed. "And me, if he can't get him. Well, I should head back to the mansion where I can be isolated- Father is currently at the airport for a business trip," Adrien explained. It was true that his father was at the airport outside of Paris, but Adrien would not be going home.

"You can't leave!" Sabine said. "It's not safe out there, Adrien. Maybe wait for Ladybug or Chat Noir to see if they can help you," She suggested.

Adrien didn't know how to respond, but he tried to think of anything he could. "No, no. I don't want to attract the Akuma here to you guys. I can run really fast, and I know how to get around without being seen. I used to evade my work a few years ago," He chuckled as he walked towards the door.

"I have to go use the bathroom!" Marinette announced, and before her family could protest, she took off through the door, right past Adrien. She found a secluded alleyway and called for Tikki, and in a second she was flying above the buildings. 

Adrien looked out the window. "Oh, look! There's Ladybug!" Adrien said, and rushed out the door as well.

"What are we dealing with?" Chat Noir asked as he landed behind Ladybug on a roof, watching the giant Akuma heading towards the Agreste Mansion.

"Akuma after Gabriel and Adrien Agreste. This guy really loves to cause Akumas, huh?" She said. "Haven't really figured out why he's after Mr. Agreste, but I guess we'll find out."

Chat Noir focused on the giant man. The way his face was shaped and the way he spoke was all too familiar to Adrien. "Looks like a photographer that works for the Gabriel brand," He said. "He was probably fired."

"A photographer?" Ladybug asked.

"We've been over this Ladybug; I keep up to date with the fashion industry. You aren't just  _casually_  into fashion," He laughed and started jumping towards the Akuma, Ladybug following close behind. 

Once they were close enough to confront the Akuma, it was clear this Akuma was not going to be a simple takedown. Just by screaming their names, the two were blown off their feet and set across the ground until they crashed into a wall. Blinding flashes were coming out of his hands, and his voice was loud like being amplified by a microphone. It was going to be difficult to even get near him as he rampaged through Paris.

"I don't even know how we would approach him," Ladybug thought out loud.

"Maybe see what Lucky Charm gives?" Chat Noir suggested.

She thought about it, but was unsure. "I don't think we'll be able to defeat him in five minutes, though," Ladybug confessed.

"If you have to, you run off and recharge. Never hurts to try," Chat Noir reminded her.

He was wrong.

 


	20. 20 - Viral in Seconds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a big and difficult Akuma, make sure to tune into the news to see the newest viral video people will be talking about for years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here we are............. >:) i love this chapter and i love light angst. and yes i just gave all the chapters names and i tried to make most of them sound like youtube video titles because ya know it kinda works

"Miraculous Ladybug!" Ladybug yelled as she was running out of time. She only had less than a minute left, and Chat Noir was not far behind with his timing. She had already run off to recharge, and was running out of stamina as this fight ended. The second round of recharge was better, as they did finally defeat the Akuma, but she was still freaking out inside.

"My Lady," Chat Noir said. "We need to get out of here. Now. Or we will detransform in front of everyone," Chat held out his hand for Ladybug to take, and they started running. Racing the clock, they jumped into an alley.

Ladybug lost her balance when they jumped down and ended up on the ground. She had less than thirty seconds to get out of there, and as she struggled to get up, Chat was trying to tell her something. Of course, Ladybug didn't hear it, thanks to the loud noise of the flash from the detransformation. "Marinette?" Chat gasped when he saw Marinette Dupain-Cheng sitting before him.

Tears formed in Marinette's eyes when she realized what was happening, and before she could look away, Chat Noir lost his transformation too. "Adrien?!" Marinette yelled.

"Oh my god!" A teenager shouted from down the alley with his phone facing the two. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the YouTuber, is Ladybug? And Adrien Agreste is Chat Noir? No way!" The kid shouted, obviously having recorded the whole thing.

Adrien grabbed Marinette's hand. "We have to get out of here," He said as he helped her up. Instead of Marinette walking with Adrien, though, she took off running. "Marinette!" Adrien called after her, but was stopped by the teenager.

"Adrien, anything you have to say about this?" The kid shoved the phone in Adrien's face.

With a scowl on his face and squinted eyes, Adrien moved around the kid, pushing the phone slightly. "Get out of my face and leave us alone," He snarled and turned in the direction Marinette ran. "Marinette!" He yelled again, chasing down the street. But alas, he had lost sight of her, and he knew there was no way he was going to be able to find her.

Adrien ditched a crowd following him by hiding in a few random buildings, and his phone began to blow up as the video was posted and went immediately viral.

Marinette held her hands in her face as she bawled running down the sidewalks. There was no way she was going home to face her parents; she was too scared about what they would say. And she really just needed a shoulder to cry on now, and ended up knocking lightly on the door of her best friend.

"Marinette!" Alya sighed. "I was just about to call you. I just saw on TV...are you okay?" Alya said and pulled Marinette into a tight hug. Alya guided her inside and locked the door. "Nino is here, too, is that okay?"

Marinette sniffled and nodded. "I'm freaking out, Alya," She said through tears as she heard the radios, phones, and TVs playing the news. "I can't believe this is happening," Marinette cried as she collapsed on the couch, staring at the TV.

 **BREAKING NEWS**  flashed across the screen as Nadia Chamack began to speak.

 _"Don't be bemused; it's just the news! As the most recent Akuma was just defeated, a video has been released showing Ladybug and Chat Noir dropping their transformations. Ladybug is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, a successful YouTuber featured around designing and random videos. She has worked with Jagged Stone many times before, as well as working in her parent's bakery. Chat Noir, surprisingly, turns out to be Adrien Agreste. This was a real shocker! The son of fashion powerhouse Gabriel Agreste and famous fashion model is one of Paris' superheroes-"_ The TV continued on, and Marinette gasped.

"Adrien," She whispered. "I...I left him," Marinette began to cry again.

Nino nodded slowly. "Yeah, and he had some harsh words for the person recording you. Then it looked like he was chasing after you, but I guess he didn't find you," Nino said, and Marinette shook her head to confirm his assumption.

Alya clicked off the TV. "I'm going to call your parents and let them know you're here. I know they're freaking out right now, and I know you won't be able to say a word," Alya announced and moved to the other side of the room. "Hey- yes, she's here. She's okay. Very shaken up and crying, but she's okay," Marinette began to tune out the conversation and just let herself cry.

"Hey," Nino put his arm around Marinette for comfort. "If you don't mind me asking, did you and Adrien know about each other?"

She shook her head once again. "No, we swore to keep it a secret to keep everyone safe. If we knew about each other, it could get out easier. But I guess that didn't matter," Marinette cried into Nino's shoulder.

"Yes, of course. Nino and I are going to talk to her and try to calm her down, but I will bring her home tonight. What? No, sorry, he isn't here. I'm sure he will show up sooner than later, though. See you guys later," Alya finished the conversation with Marinette's parents and put her phone down. "Girl, this is crazy."

"You're telling me," Marinette sniffled. "This is everywhere. Hawkmoth's probably watched the video a million times. He could go after Adrien or me...Adrien lives in a big mansion, and I live in a popular bakery, not the hardest things to find."

Nino and Alya listened to Marinette freak out. "Did you guys have any ideas about who Hawkmoth is?" Nino asked.

Marinette wiped her tears and shrugged. "At the beginning of the year, I actually thought it was Gabriel Agreste. I had a pretty good lead, too, but then he got akumatized, and we were able to rule him out. Oh my god, that means there was a point where Adrien was convinced his father was Hawkmoth..." Marinette set in realization.

"Well, you can't keep him ruled out, now," Alya shrugged, only getting a confused look from Marinette. "Miraculous holders can get akumatized. Chloe got akumatized while she had her miraculous. I'm not saying Gabriel is Hawkmoth, but you guys should be careful and see if there is any way you can protect your miraculous. Who knows who could break into your houses now to get your stuff," Alya reasoned.

Nodding slowly, a million thoughts were circling her mind. "Hey, it's getting late. I should get you home so you can talk to your parents. I'm sure they're worried sick," Alya grabbed Marinette's hand and pulled her off the couch. "I'll walk you home. Nino, are you joining?"

"Sorry, dudettes, I think I'm going to try to track down Adrien. I want to make sure he's okay, too," He said.

"No, that's a good idea," Marinette said as she was being dragged out by Alya. "I'll talk to him, too," She paused, "Eventually."

 


	21. 21 - Look Back At The Live Stream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After talking with Alya and Nino, Marinette heads home to face her parents. She thinks about what she's going to have to do in the next few days, and realizes that she never turned off her Instagram when the Akuma struck. Adrien decides to leave the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW the response I got from the last chapter was AMAZING! I wrote that reveal right after I came up with this headcanon and I'm glad people liked it (even tho a few want to fight mari) But...without further ado, let the adventures ensue!

Alya knocked on the door to Marinette's home, and her parents answered within seconds. "Marinette!" Her mom gasped and pulled her into a tight hug. "Are you okay?"

Marinette thought she was going to be okay when talking to her parents, but feeling her mom and dad's arms wrap around her like they thought they lost her, Marinette lost it and began to bawl again. "I'll see you later, Marinette. Let me know if you need to talk," Alya told her calmly, and turned to walk away from the house.

Marinette cried in her parent's arms. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys," Marinette told them.

Her mother pulled away slowly as they dropped the group hug. "Marinette, we aren't mad at you, if that's what you're worried about," She chuckled. "If anything, we are beyond proud of you for all that you do."

"Of course, we are scared out of our minds knowing this is what you do in your free time, but you seem to know what you're doing," Her father comforted. "And you seem to have a good partner."

Marinette smiled lightly. "Yeah, we work well together."

"Have you seen him since then?" Sabine interjected. "I want to make sure he's doing well, too," She said.

Marinette shook her head. "I...I ran off after it happened. We didn't know each other's identities, and it came as a bit of a shock. Nino's looking for him right now," Marinette summarized. "Can...can I take tomorrow off school? I need to think through everything, and I don't think I can handle all the questions from people at school. Or from the world, for the matter," Marinette pulled out her phone, and she shut her eyes tight. "I'm going to have to make a video about this."

"You don't have to," Tom told her. "It's your business. You don't have to share anything with anyone about this."

"That's true," Marinette nodded. "But I'm afraid if I don't, people will just keep asking questions."

Her parents listened to her talk herself through it, but Sabine did cut her off after a few minutes went by. "I'll call you out of school tomorrow, but you need to get some sleep. You've had a long, emotional day," Sabine said. The three hugged once more before all saying goodnight, and Marinette headed up to her room.

Marinette saw her room, back to normal, and everything in place as she left it. She grabbed her phone to see the low battery sign- and the live stream still on and looking at her puffy red eyes. Marinette gasped and quickly shut off the live stream before anyone could say anything about how she looked. Had it really been on all night? And though her mind was saying not to look back at the comments after she ran out, she did anyway.

She skipped the video until she saw the chaos begin when the Akuma ran off with her roof. For people outside of Paris, it must have been crazy and nervewracking for them to see something like this. That was the main reason Marinette read the comments; she wanted to see what her fans were saying  _before_  her fans found out about her identity.

_did...did something just take off with her roof?_

_WHATTHEUFCK WAS THAT THING OH MY GOD_

_is this what happens in paris? idk after this livestream i blame gabriel agreste for all the shit paris goes through cancel him_

_ok i know not the best time buuuuut hearing adrien and marinette's concern for each other was adorable i ship them so hard_

_ARE MARINETTE, ADRIEN, AND HER PARENTS OK? I CAN SEE ALYA ON THE LADYBLOG BUT WHAT HAPPENED_

_its crazy to see these people not from Paris and their reactions to akumas. well now they know we aren't making this up and editing videos. Hawkmoth is the worst._

_OH MY GOD GUYS LOOK AT THE VIDEO THAT WAS JUST POSTED VIOERGNJWS MARINETTE WHAT_

Marinette sighed when she got to the comments about the video leaking, and Tikki flew out. "Oh, Tikki. What are we going to do?"

\---

"Hello, class!" Mrs. Busiter walked in. She noticed two people missing from the front of her room, but she figured that was going to be the case by what she saw on TV yesterday. "Please pull out your books, and we will get started in just a minute," She directed and walked to where Alya and Nino were seated. "I take it they won't be here today?" She asked.

Alya shook her head. "Marinette won't be. She's going through a lot," Alya explained.

"I talked to Adrien last night. He'll be back tomorrow. We can take them their work," Nino added.

Mrs. Bustier shook her head. "No, that's okay. They should relax. It seems like a lot to go through, and I don't want to stress them more. It's nothing they can't catch up on," She explained.

Adrien wasn't sure how everything worked out so well. Was it a coincidence his father flew out of town right before the whole thing happened? He wasn't sure. But Nathalie stayed behind, and knew to be careful around Adrien. She called him out of school and promised not to tell his father, then left him alone to deal with everything.

"Nathalie?" Adrien called when he walked around the mansion.

"Yes?" She responded immediately.

Adrien took a deep breath. "I need to go out. I've been thinking all morning, and I need some air."

It was lunchtime, but Adrien couldn't eat. He was far too nervous; even Plagg refused to eat his camembert until Adrien ate. "Okay, please be careful," Nathalie nodded. "Call if you need anything, and be sure to tell Miss Dupain-Cheng I hope she's doing all right," Nathalie nodded.

"How did you-"

"You can't not go see her, Adrien," Nathalie said. "Be careful, and make sure to eat something," She told him, and Adrien nodded, then walked out of the house.

Plagg looked at Adrien from his hiding spot. "You really want to go talk to her already?" Plagg scolded. "Isn't it a little soon? Needy?" He snickered.

"I have to go see her. She's probably freaking out! There are fans all over social media talking about this. I'm overwhelmed for her, of course we're going," Adrien said and was headed straight towards the bakery.

As he walked, he scrolled through Twitter, looking at everything mentioning  _Ladybug_.

_I can't believe she had to keep being_ **_Ladybug_ ** _a secret, that's crazy. I could never do it._

_WOW, who would have thought Marinette Dupain-Cheng is_ **_Ladybug_ ** _? I get Adrien as Chat Noir...but I'll never understand how *she's* a superhero. I could never stand her._

_Just another reason to love Marinette! A super talented designer, funny person, seems like the nicest person you'd ever meet, AND she's_ **_Ladybug_ ** _! What an amazing person._

_Marinette seems super annoying. Why did she get picked to be_ **_Ladybug_ ** _? Should have given it up as soon as she found out._

_JAGGED @JaggedStone_   
_Guys! I love Marinette. She's fantastic, kind, and caring! It's so obvious that she's_ **_Ladybug_ ** _that none of us noticed, because she's an everyday hero too! I can't believe some of the hate I'm seeing from you rockers, that's not cool. She and Adrien protect Paris every day!_

_Marinette Dupain-Cheng @MarinetteDC_   
_I know a lot has happened. I will be making one video about it. One video, and that's it. This is a very rough time for me. I'll be answering a few questions. Not every one sent in will be answered, but tweet me if you have any questions about_ **_Ladybug,_ ** _and we'll see what gets answered._

_Marinette Dupain-Cheng @MarinetteDC_   
_I never wanted my identity to be revealed. One video about_ **_Ladybug_ ** _is all that I will release. I've had countless people/news stations/TV/radio reach out to me already, and I declined them all, as I will continue to do._

_Marinette Dupain-Cheng @MarinetteDC_   
_We have no idea who Hawkmoth is, and this is a very dangerous time for everyone in Paris. I have declined interviews to keep everyone safe. Hawkmoth could dig deep and figure many things out, and that is why I will be making my own video. I know what I can answer safely and not put anyone in jeopardy. After that, no more talk of_ **_Ladybug_ ** _from me <3_

Adrien picked up his pace and was practically running to the bakery. He took a deep breath before walking in, and Marinette's mom dropped a loaf of bread on the floor when she saw him. "Adrien!" She smiled and rushed over to pull him into a tight hug. "I was worried about you. I know how Marinette is, and I was hoping you wouldn't be the same..." Sabine sighed. "How are you doing?"

"It's difficult," Adrien shrugged. "But I don't think I'm as bad as Marinette. I've had good and bad press my whole life, this is different. Can...can I go see her?" Adrien asked sheepishly.

"Of course," Sabine said. "Just up the stairs. The door should be unlocked. Try not to scare her; she's really jumpy right now," Sabine warned.

Adrien smiled lightly. "I'll make sure to knock, thank you so much," Adrien said and walked past Sabine to get up the stairs.

"Was that Adrien?" Tom peered out to his wife; she nodded in response. "I was wondering when he would show up."

Adrien walked up the stairs and knocked lightly before opening it. "M..Marinette?" He said quietly. "It's...Adrien?"

He opened the door fully and saw her sitting on the couch. "Hi," She turned to stand up. "I'm really sorry I ran away, I shouldn't have done that."

"No, it's okay. It was pretty shocking," Adrien confirmed. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay. It's really rough, and I've never been this emotional before. There are so many mixed opinions going around on social media. Everyone seems to be so happy you're Chat Noir, but with me, people hate it," She sniffled.

Adrien stood across from her and shook his head. "No one's talking about Chat Noir because he's not as important as Ladybug. I mean, you are Ladybug in and out of the suit! You do stuff she would do all the time. I'm drastically different from Chat Noir," Adrien said. "Did you see Jagged Stone's tweet?"

"That's a lie. Chat Noir is so important...why do you think I take his side in arguments about who's better?" She smirked. "And yes, I did. He actually called me. Penny and Jagged called me to make sure I was doing okay. Apparently, he's known I've been Ladybug for a while...Kind of crazy," She chuckled. "But I appreciated being able to talk to someone that's not my family or friends," Marinette explained. "What did your father say?"

Adrien laughed. "I got lucky. He flew out yesterday before it all happened and won't be home for a few days. Nathalie and I talked for about a half-hour, and she told me she had a suspicion the whole time. Thankfully, she called me out of school today, which was nice, but I can't wait for my father's wrath when he gets back," Adrien sighed.

Marinette looked down. "Do you remember when I thought your dad was Hawkmoth? I'm really sorry about that. I didn't understand why you were so hurt, and I would have been the same way."

Shaking his head, Adrien sat down. "No, if I were you, I would have thought the same thing. I mean, I had his book! Master Fu said things about it, how could you not think it was him?"

"Alya doesn't want to rule him out," Marinette said quietly. "Since Miraculous holders can be akumatized..." She trailed off, getting more uncomfortable.

"We can talk about this later, too. Maybe talk to Master Fu about what he thinks. But Plagg said he has some ideas on protecting my ring, so we should be okay for a while," Adrien explained. "Now, I saw your tweets about making a video."

"You did?"

"Yeah," Adrien nodded. "Would you like some help making the video? I could answer questions with you if you want."

Marinette smiled and nodded. "You know, Adrien, I would love that."

 


	22. 22 - Ladybug and Chat Noir

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Ladybug and Chat Noir have been revealed as mildly famous Parisians, Marinette and Adrien make a video addressing the topic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was fun and I spent a long time on it. What would you have asked them?

"Hi, I'm Marinette," She introduced the video. "And Adrien is here, too."

"Hi!" Adrien smiled.

With a sigh, she continued. "Today is a serious video, and the only time we will be talking about this," She said. "I tweeted out that I would be taking questions about Ladybug just this once. And now I guess we're also going to take some Chat Noir answers too, since Adrien decided to help with this video," Marinette explained. "Let's get started."

Adrien scrolled through his phone to find some good questions. "This one is in response to you saying you declined interviews. Why did you decline them, don't we deserve to know how our favorite hero thinks?"

Marinette took a deep breath to answer the first question. "I declined the interviews to keep everyone safe. To keep Adrien and me safe, our families and friends safe, and the entirety of Paris safe. Most interviews are live and will not be controlled by me- what if I said something jeopardizing? With my own video, I know what I can say, and if I decide it doesn't work right, I can edit it out and control what is being released. Heck, I never even intended for our identities to be revealed," She said. "That was a loaded one for the first question."

Adrien chuckled. "I'll lighten it up a bit," He said and continued to scroll. "Oh! I like this story. How did you become Ladybug?"

Marinette shook her head. "The Miraculous was given to me, and I found it the day the first Akuma showed up. I had no idea what was going on and was even more awkward than I am now."

"I was running away from home and helped a man while I was trying to run away to go to school. Then the Akuma showed up, and I found my Miraculous, and I have to say, I was ready to get superpowers," Adrien smiled. "Did you two know each other's identities?"

"No," She answered quickly. "We agreed to keep it a secret. As I said, it was to keep us safe. I'm sure once we won the final battle with Hawkmoth, we would talk about it." Sure, that one was only half true. Tikki was a huge reason not to tell the identities.

Adrien nodded. "I actually really wanted for us to know each other's identities, but I respected her opinion, and it probably was best to keep it a secret."

"Thanks for that," Marinette smiled. "Next?"

He was looking for the best questions he could find, without being too personal. "How perfect is that view from the tippy-top of the Eiffel Tower?" He asked.

A soft smile grew on Marinette's face as she thought about it. "It  _is_  perfect. Especially at night," She said. "Paris is beautiful, but it's even more beautiful from up there. Maybe I'll take a picture sometime, but photos will never do it justice," She awed.

"She's right. We would meet there a lot for night patrols, and it's the best. Sometimes I would go there when I just need some fresh air and a break, and it's the best spot in Paris to go," Adrien added on as he finished the question and began looking for another.

Scrolling for another few seconds, he showed it to Marinette before asking it. She nodded, but knew she had to be careful with some of these answers. "How do you turn into Ladybug?" He asked.

"Magic," Was her one-word answer, and all that she was going to give for it.

"How have we seen other superheroes appear in Pairs? Like Rena Rogue, Carapace, and Queen Bee?" Adrien continued reading.

Marinette shrugged. "More magic. Sometimes the Miraculous just show up when it's needed, then disappear after," She said. That one was more so to cover themselves, if they revealed there was a Guardian in Paris, who knows what Hawkmoth would do.

Adrien held back his laugh when he read the next one. "Mari, this person is telling me there's a girl online talking about how she was always your best friend, and now it's crumbling under her. Her name is Lila," Adrien said.

Marinette's eyes grew wide, but she contained herself. Marinette only shrugged. "The only Lila I know went to school with us every once in a while, and she is out to get me. So, maybe that person has been lying since I only know one Lila?" Marinette responded. She tried to keep it vague, but she knew exactly who this was about.

"Ew! This person proposed to you over Twitter," Adrien rolled his eyes.

Marinette giggled. "I'm flattered, but no thank you."

"Here's a fun one," Adrien said, trying to forget how he felt about reading the  _proposal_. "What is your favorite part about being a superhero?"

It was silent for a minute. Marinette had so many good times with being a superhero, becoming friends with Tikki being her most favorite part. But, of course, she couldn't talk about that. "While you're thinking, I'll go!" Adrien smiled. "Mine is definitely working together. We make such a great team, and we've become such great friends, I love it. It's so nice to have the freedom and power to fly across Paris, that's awesome."

"Awe, that's so sweet," Marinette smiled. "I think that's my favorite, too. Even though you can be annoying, you're a great partner."

Adrien smiled wide as he looked back at his phone for another question. "Why do you only want to make one video about Ladybug?" He asked. Marinette got stiff and sighed as she thought about her answer.

She took a deep breath before beginning her answer. "This video wasn't even going to be made initially. But when I saw all the tweets, and comments, and posts, I knew I had to," Marinette said. "Our families and friends are in danger now that we have been revealed, and that scares me more than anything," Marinette said as tears began to well in her eyes. She took a few more deep breaths to try and stop her from crying, and Adrien put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, you don't have to answer this one. We can skip it if you want. Heck, we can end the video. We're going to protect them all, and I know we will win. We make a great team," Adrien smiled.

Marinette put her hand on his, and smiled lightly. "You're right," She said and turned back to the camera. "I bet Hawkmoth is ecstatic this happened. I'm sure he's rolling with how happy he is that he knows who we are. Well, guess what?" She started. "Now that Adrien and I know about each other, we can only become closer. This one experience can bring us closer than ever before, and we can break things down. We've been partners for three years, only growing and becoming more than when we started. So Hawkmoth, while you're out there thinking this is our lowest point, well, the only way to go is up. We will defeat you...together," Marinette smiled, the tears still in her eyes, but now because of her passion.

Adrien's smile grew even more. "You won't even know what hit you."

"And I think that's going to end this video. It's been an emotional rollercoaster, and I'm not sure how to feel about all of this. But it happened, and here we are. Closer than before, and a better team because of it. Look out Hawkmoth, we're coming for you," Marinette smiled. "I'll see you guys in the next video. Check out our social media, and be sure to subscribe for more, non-superhero content! See you in the next video!" Marinette said, and shut off the camera.

"Thank you so much," She started to cry again, hugging Adrien. "I couldn't have done this without you."

—

 _Marinette Dupain-Cheng @MarinetteDC_  
 _The video_   _about Ladybug is done being filmed. It's emotional and kind of crazy. I'm editing it now, and then I'll have it posted_ _tomorrow_ _. Adrien is the best person ever, and I don't know how I would function without him._

_Marinette Dupain-Cheng @MarinetteDC_   
_I know there are a lot more questions you guys will want answered after that video, too. Don't count on them getting answered, especially now that Hawkmoth knows about us. We have to keep everyone safe._

_Gabriel Agreste Fashion @GabrielParis_   
_Gabriel Agreste or anyone associated with Agreste Fashion will not be discussing the recent events with Adrien Agreste._

_Adrien @AdrienAgreste_   
_@GabrielParis except me!!!_

_Adrien @AdrienAgreste_   
_Marinette is honestly one of the coolest people I know, and this video was one of the hardest things she's had to make for her career, but look at her go. She's protecting Paris and producing content. Genuinely inspiring and Hawkmoth should take a page out of her book._

 


	23. 23 - Things Jagged Knew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Going back to the reveal day, Marinette gets a call from Jagged Stone. They talk about everything, and he gives some words of wisdom while simultaneously freaking her out more. Hawkmoth has some thoughts...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Uncle Jagged, so here he is. And, some insight to gabriel ;) i love this chapter its fun

_The day the reveal went viral._  
  
Alya brought Marinette home, and after a short conversation with her parents, Marinette went to her room. She needed to think through everything by herself and figure out what she needed to do. She was still sniffling from all her crying and emotions freaking out, and Tikki had no idea how to help her.

"Oh, Tikki. What are we going to do?" Marinette sighed.

Tikki flew up next to her. "There's no going back; now we just have to keep going. Don't let it bring you down," She told Marinette. It wasn't the best answer, but it was something.

Both of them jumped when her phone began to blare her ringtone. Marinette put her hand over her heart and sighed. "Hello?" She asked when she picked up.

"Marinette? I saw what happened. Are you okay?" Jagged Stone asked over the phone. "I wanted to check up on you."

Marinette nodded, even though he couldn't see it. "It's...it's a lot. I never imagined this would happen."

Jagged could tell she was freaking out. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

After thinking for a second, she sighed. "I've had my few minutes of fame, with my videos and working with you, but this...this is different. Is this what it's going to be like, with eyes on me at all times? My life is going to change, even more so now," Marinette started to freak out again. "I'm going to have to make a video about this, and answer questions I'm not at all prepared to answer. Even after I make the video, people will just keep asking questions that I don't want to answer, and I'm already getting hundreds of questions each minute and-"

"Did you and Adrien know about each other?" Jagged cut her off.

"No, we kept it secret from everyone. The only person who knew was the person who gave us our Miraculous," Marinette confessed.

She heard Penny giggle in the background, and she quickly realized she was on speakerphone. "Well, them and Jagged, I guess."

"Penny! Shh!" Jagged shushed her quickly.

"What? She...doesn't know you knew? You told me  _she_ told  _you_  she was Ladybug over a year ago!" Penny whisper yelled at him.

Jagged winched through his teeth and probably had his eyes shut, too, but Marinette was too concentrated on everything being said. "I may have told a little lie," He said.

Marinette's jaw dropped as she listened to them talk. "You...how did you know?" She asked. "You told Penny that I told you? What is going on?"

"Marinette, I think it's crazy no one figured out it was you two before this. When we first met with the glasses fiasco, I knew there was something special about you. And as we continued to work together and I watched your channel grow, I realized what that extra special thing was: determination and passion," Jagged told her. "Both Penny and I were akumatized, so I've seen Ladybug that way, as well as the chance meetings at parties and ceremonies. It was easy to put two and two together as I saw you grow as a creator and a person, then saw how much you resembled Ladybug and how Ladybug resembled you in more ways than one- it's not only the pigtails!" Jagged laughed.

"A few months ago, when Adrien started popping up in your videos, I noticed how close you guys were even though I had never really seen you guys together before, especially not alone. When I saw your dynamic with each other and knowing what I did about you, I took an educated guess about our favorite model boy," Jagged said. "The only people I talked to about it was Penny and Fang, and we would never tell a soul!" He swore. "I know how hard you work on protecting Paris and trying to live a normal life; it's hard stuff to balance. But now that your secret identity is out, the balance could get harder. People are going to pry and try to get you to talk about things you're not comfortable with, and it could be even more difficult because you are also so close with Adrien, people are going crazy about that. Don't let it get to you, the hate will never be worth it, and you're just going to keep doing the job you do so well at," She could hear his smile through the phone.

Marinette took a deep breath as she processed what she was told. "Thank you, Jagged," She said, simply. "I'm kind of surprised Alya didn't figure it out, but I guess that's what the magic is for."

He laughed, relieved Marinette wasn't angry with him. "Marinette, I hate to leave you, but I do have some business of our upcoming collaboration to attend to. I wanted to make sure you were okay. You think you'll make it through the day?" He asked.

"Yeah, I've just got to go think over everything. Thanks again, and I hope we'll get to release one of the singles soon."

"That's what this meeting is for!" Penny yelled in the background. "Be in touch, Marinette!"

The phone call ended, and Marinette fell into her chaise chair. She had a lot of stuff to think about.

\---

Gabriel faced his large window as he heard the hidden elevator enter his room. "I assume you've seen the news?" Nathalie asked as she walked closer to him.

All he did was nod once and shut his eyes. "Did you have any idea?" Nathalie asked.

"No," Gabriel answered stoically. "My own son? Fighting against me?"

Nathalie sighed. "I can't believe it either. But, to be fair, he has no idea it's you."

"I could have taken that stupid ring off him a million times!" Gabriel shouted, turning around to face Nathalie. "And Miss Dupain-Cheng would do anything I'd say. I could have had their miraculous years ago," He grumbled, his fists clenched.

Nathalie didn't flinch when he screamed, only smiled. "Adrien is not home yet. I assume he is with Marinette," She said. "Extend your 'trip' to give Adrien a few days to process, and when you 'come back,' you have a civil conversation. From there, he'll trust you, and he will have no reason to suspect you. Making getting their miraculous' much easier," She explained.

Gabriel was confused at first, but then understood. "Brilliant. Tell Adrien I will be back to Paris in three days."

Though Adrien believed his father was really on a business trip, he was not. He needed time to develop a plan for his strongest Akuma without Adrien getting suspicious. And with the new information to his plan, he could easily extend the trip.

"I'll keep you updated," Nathalie nodded and turned to the elevator, leaving the darkroom and back into the mansion.

"Nooroo," Gabriel called.

"Yes, master?" Nooroo appeared a second later.

Gabriel had an evil smile on his face. "Good work with the latest Akuma."

 


	24. 24 - Going Back To School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Adrien are going back to school right after their secrets went viral. The video will go out after their school day, and Marinette isn't quite sure how today will go. Well, there's only one way to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is a ball of anxiety and it is way too relatable.

She just had to make it through one day. One day at school, then it's the weekend. Her Ladybug questions video is set to be posted right as school lets out so her friends could watch it, as she had no intention to talk to anyone today.

Marinette set her bag down and walked up to Mrs. Bustier's desk. "Hi, sorry I wasn't here yesterday. What did I miss? I couldn't find anything on the class website," Marinette said, quieter than usual.

Mrs. Bustier offered a warm smile. "Don't worry about it, Marinette. It was a simple assignment that we did in class, and we didn't have any homework. You and Adrien will be excused from the assignment," She told Marinette. "How are you doing?"

Marinette shrugged. "I'm dealing with it," She said. "Lots to process, and my online presence makes it harder, but Adrien and I made a video to post about it all," She explained quickly.

"That's good. If you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm a good listener," Mrs. Bustier offered, and Marinette nodded before heading back to her seat.

"Hey, girl," Alya greeted. "How are you holding up?"

Marinette didn't reply, only shrugged. Before Alya could say anything else, Adrien walked in. There were whispers as he walked past his desk and to Marinette, as she was sure there would be all day. "I saw your text. There's no need to worry today, everyone here is our friends. Don't worry about all the stuff online; it will calm down once the video goes out. We just have to make it through one day, and then we have the whole weekend!" Adrien reminded her, smiling at Alya, who watched closely.

"He's right," Alya added. "Just one day. And besides, they know now that if they mess with you, you'll throw them across Paris."

"And trust me, no one wants that," Adrien laughed as he rubbed his lower back.

"You're right, thanks, guys," Marinette nodded and got things out of her bag. "Just have to make it through the day," She sighed.

Every one of Marinette's teachers talked to her before or after class, trying to make sense of everything and letting her know that if she needed help in school not to hesitate to ask. She appreciated it, but it also felt weird that this was happening just because she was revealed as Ladybug. No matter how hard she tried, she could not shake the idea out of her head that her being revealed only put everyone around her in danger.

In science, a student brought a note to the teacher. Of course, it was a note for Marinette to go to Mr. Damocles's office. She should have seen this coming, but she was so focused on not attracting too much attention to her, that she didn't even think about the principal. As students murmured when she gathered her things, she tried her best to ignore it.

"Will you all be quiet about this?" Alya groaned. She sat at the opposite end of the room from Marinette, and frankly, she was tired of this. "We all know what happened, so be quiet. Watch Marinette's video that's coming out right after school and leave her alone," Alya said. Normally, the teacher would say something to her about how she addressed everyone, but she let it slide this time.

Marinette smiled weakly at Alya as she exited the room and started down the hallway.

"No, we are trying to keep the attention off of us," Marinette heard Adrien say as she approached the office. "Marinette and I made a video. One video is all she wants to do addressing this. We are not doing anytime more. Even if we did, Marinette and I would want to have control over it. We're not going to have our words twisted or put anyone in any more danger," Adrien argued.

Marinette knocked on the door, and the voices stopped. "Come in," Mr. Damocles called. She pushed the door open slowly with a confused look on her face. "Ah, Marinette, take a seat."

Quickly, Marinette noticed that Adrien looked rather annoyed but was trying to remain a respectful student. "Hey, Mari," Adrien greeted. "Making it through the day?"

Marinette shrugged and sat down in the other chair. "Alya had to address the class I just left," She chuckled. "But other than that, it's been okay. I can't wait for this video to go out, so people just be quiet."

"No one has really talked to me about it; I think they're scared I might cataclysm someone," Adrien sighed. "Like I would? Being cataclysm-ed sucks."

"Which is why I think we need to do an assembly," Mr. Damocles interrupted. "Students should know not to pester you two and to not go crazy over this, especially now that Hawkmoth knows who you are," He suggested.

Adrien groaned. "And I keep telling him no," He directed to Marinette.

"Yeah, it's not a good idea," Marinette shook her head. "My video goes out as soon as school ends today. People will see it, and they will know that it is the only time I'm going to talk about it," She explained. "I don't even want to be talking about it now."

Mr. Damocles tried to keep his cool. "You just said Alya had to address the class; we should do something, so the students aren't constantly thinking about this. Why not?"

"The same reason I have turned down countless interviews for TV, radio, and articles. I won't have control over it. If someone were to record something Adrien or I said, they could edit it to say something that isn't even true. It would only endanger us more," Marinette said, also trying to remain calm as she explained this to Mr. Damocles again. "I edit videos, it's easy to make someone say something they never did. I want to have control over what I release about Ladybug and Chat Noir."

Mr. Damocles blinked. "But-"

Marinette grabbed her bag and stood up. "If you don't mind, I was really enjoying what we were doing in science class today, and I would like to continue learning," Marinette said, staring at Mr. Damocles.

With a sigh, he gave in. "Of course. If you guys need anything or change your mind, let me know," He said. Marinette nodded once and walked out first, letting Adrien gather his things.

Right as the door was shutting, she heard Adrien chuckle and say something under his breath. "You don't fight Ladybug or Marinette."

\---

Marinette and Alya walked out of school together as Alya asked about Marinette's day. As she was explaining the conversation with Mr. Damocles, Marinette felt her phone non-stop buzz. "Oh, the video is out. Can't wait to read the comments," She sighed.

"You don't have to," Alya reminded her. "But, you know I am going to watch it and post about it on the Ladyblog."

"I was counting on it. At least I know you won't trash me for being Ladybug," Marinette said.

Alya hugged Marinette. "Never!" She said. "But I've got to go do some homework and watch your video, and I'll text you later," She waved at Marinette as they split apart.

Marinette started her walk home, trying to avoid everyone she could. Now that she was revealed, all she wanted to do was turn into Ladybug and yo-yo her way home, but she held back. As she was getting lost in thought, she was pulled out by hearing her name called.

Swinging around, she was surprised to see Chloé walking towards her. "Chloé?" Marinette said suspiciously.

"Can we...can we talk? Privately?" Chloé asked, and though she looked confident, her words were definitely not.

"Sure?" Marinette said, but it sounded more like a question. Chloé nodded and led the way to her car. Marinette recognized her butler in the front seat, but it was like he wasn't even there with how quiet he was.

Marinette looked confused as Chloé opened the door for her. "I'll take you home, okay? This way we have a chance to talk, and I'm not holding you back."

Reluctantly, Marinette got in the car. Once Chloé got in as well, they started driving. "I'm honestly kind of shocked," Chloé started. "But I shouldn't be. I was thinking about it, about Pollen and Queen Bee- I've seen your Kwami," Chloé told Marinette.

Her eyes got big. "What?" Marinette said, her heart rate increasing.

"Yeah, it was like your first year of Ladybug. I found a red, bug thing on the road and took it. You told me it was a doll," She explained. "I didn't think about it until I saw the news, and realized that doll was your Kwami," Chloé admitted. "I should have put the pieces together after meeting Pollen, but it didn't even cross my mind."

"Did you want to talk just to tell me you should have realized it?" Marinette said in a quiet voice, getting more and more anxious as she felt her phone continue to get thousands of notifications.

Chloé shook her head. "No, I wanted to ask you...why did you let me continue to be Queen Bee?

Marinette was shocked that Chloé admitted to being mean to her, but was also confused that she finally did only when she found out about Marinette being Ladybug. "I don't know; it seemed to give you something good. You used it to help us fight Hawkmoth, and you were really serious about it all. Besides, once Adrien and I got to be closer friends, you toned it down a little bit. It was a few years back you were mean to me the most," Marinette explained. "I mean, sure there were those few months that you didn't get the Miraculous due to him knowing who you are...but I guess that doesn't matter much anymore."

"Really?" Chloé asked with hopeful eyes.

With a shrug, Marinette thought. "I mean, it won't be all the time. But like normal, when we need you. It all depends on what skill set we need; you know that," Marinette explained.

"Of course," Chloé nodded. She opened her mouth to say something else, but the car stopped in front of Marinette's home.

"Well," Marinette said. "I'll see you around."

"Bye, Marinette."


	25. 25 - Miraculous Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After her day back at school, Alya and Nino came over for support. Marinette had some serious things to talk to them about, and a serious day to follow. They have to get serious, who knows what Hawkmoth is going to do now he knows their identities? Also, how hasn't there been an Akuma yet?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't sure this was where I was going to take the story. I still have mixed feelings about Chloe, especially after watching the season 3 finale(s). But since this story doesn't follow season 3 canon fully, I think I like it. After re reading this chapter multiple times, I'm happy with it.

For Friday night, Alya and Nino were over to have a movie night and help Marinette through the weekend. It had been a  _long_  few days, and it was no secret. Adrien would have been there as well, but he's waiting for his father to get home, and Nathalie advised against him going out so late. She was afraid crazed fans, of him or Chat Noir, would figure out what was going on.

Tom and Sabine gave the kids some time to themselves, so they went out for dinner. They knew Marinette was still dealing with a lot, and she needed to talk to her friends. The video has been out for a few hours, and it's racking up countless views, comments, and opinions. Marinette has yet to look at the comments, and she's not sure if she will.

"I posted my review of your video," Alya told her. "I may be a little biased, but I tried my best to stay unbiased. A lot of my fans are really excited; I haven't seen too much hate on the video."

Marinette shrugged. "I still haven't looked," She said. "But before we start our movie night, I need to tell you guys something."

"Yeah?" Nino piped up.

"Chloé talked to me after school, asked me some questions, and kind of thanked me? I'm not sure what suddenly made her do that-"

Alya laughed. "Ladybug  _is_  her role model."

" _But,_ " Marinette continued. "Since everyone knows about Adrien and me, and Chloé never made herself a secret... the only main miraculous holders Hawkmoth doesn't know is you two," Marinette began explaining. "Not including the ones that have used a Miraculous only once or twice."

Both their mouths dropped open. "You're so right, dude," Nino said after a few seconds.

"Wait, Chat Noir didn't know it was us?" Alya asked. "I thought that would have been a decision you guys made together."

"No, it's usually only me. We both know the protector of the Miraculous, but I'm the one who gives them out. Mostly because my Lucky Charm tells me when we need the help," Marinette explained. "But, I was thinking, maybe we should tell Adrien and Chloé?" She said, much quieter.

Alya and Nino looked at each other, and back to Marinette. "Really?" Alya asked. "What brought you to that idea?"

"Well, now that Adrien and I know it's, well,  _us_ , it's going to be a bit easier to communicate. Hawkmoth also knows Chloé's identity, so right now, there is really no reason not to let her help us if we need it. He doesn't know Rena Rouge or Carapace, but if we know in our group, communicating will be easier," Marinette explained her idea. "I have a bad feeling that now that Hawkmoth knows, the Akuma's are going to get harder and more intense so he can get our Miraculous easier or faster. He's going to start attacking us in our daily lives and homes."

They both nodded slowly as they thought about Marinette's take on what Hawkmoth is going to do. "Sure, I'm okay with telling them. I love being Rena Rouge, and I do think you guys will need our help. Hawkmoth is probably on a high right now that he knows, but in a few days, I won't be surprised if another Akuma rips your roof off," Alya said.

"I agree," Nino nodded. "I'm always down to help."

Marinette smiled, but was still worried behind her happy face. "Great, I'll see if we can all get together soon. Now we can begin the movie night," She said.

"Wait," Alya sat up quickly before Marinette pressed  _play_. "Do I get to meet your Kwami?" Nino nodded along eagerly.

With a small sigh, Marinette giggled. "Um...Tikki?"

\---

Marinette was a little nervous on Saturday morning. Alya, Nino, and she fell asleep while watching movies for an unplanned sleepover. She kept waking up throughout the night, due to nightmares and thinking Hawkmoth was going to send Akumas to her house, and her friends would get hurt. She had been up for a few hours, on her phone until it was acceptable to actually wake up. She texted Adrien and Chloé last night to see what they thought about a Miraculous meeting, and they were going to be at Marinette's house very soon.

She also knew her parents were home but never heard the door open. She shook Alya and Nino awake so they could clean up, and head up to her room for the "meeting." Alya was still a little shocked that Marinette wanted to tell  _Chloé_ , but she shouldn't be surprised about anything from Marinette anymore.

They knew the last few days had been some of Marinette's most stressful days. She rarely let the stress get to her, or let others see it, but this kind of stress has been hard to hide. "Marinette," Alya called to get her attention. "You go upstairs and clear your head; we'll finish cleaning up."

"Yeah, dude, give yourself a little break. We know you're stressed and freaking out about this, uh,  _meeting?_  Let us worry about cleaning up!" Nino added, a big smile on his face.

Marinette dropped the blanket she was holding and took a deep breath. "I'm okay, guys. Really."

Alya crossed her arms and gave a warning look. "Marinette."

They stared at each other in silence for thirty seconds. "Fine!" Marinette groaned when she finally gave up. She dropped the other pillow in her hand, and turned on her heels to walk to her room. "You win this time, Alya."

"I always win," Alya smirked as Marinette walked up the steps.

Marinette flopped onto her chaise, and Tikki snuck out. "You need some more rest," Tikki said.

"I don't have time for more rest. Hawkmoth knows who we are; being asleep is my most vulnerable position. We need to defeat him before he starts getting more daring and showing up to my house to take my earrings," Marinette groaned. "I've got so much going on I'm going to go crazy."

Tikki was now right in front of Marinette's face. "Marinette, take a nap. Nino and Alya are right downstairs, and Adrien and Chloé will be here soon so you won't be asleep long anyways."

Marinette shook her head and rolled on her side as she pulled her phone out. "I'll be fine. I don't need to sleep."

Back downstairs, Alya and Nino made the living room look like it had never been touched. "She's crazy," Alya told Nino once they finished.

"I know. I don't know how she handles all the stuff on her plate," Nino sighed. "She does, though, and I agree that she is crazy," Nino shook his head. "I wonder what the guardian of the Miraculous thinks of it all. Also, I had no idea there was a guardian of the Miraculous."

Alya threw her hands out. "I know, right? And I know everything about Miraculous!" Alya said. "I'll figure it out one day."

Before Nino could add to the conversation again, there was a knock on the door. Assuming it was Adrien, Alya and Nino rushed to the door. Chloé stood on the other side, not sure how to act when she saw Alya and Nino. "What are you guys here for? Marinette asked Adrien and me to come for a Miraculous meeting."

Alya shrugged. "She wanted us here so she could get some sleep without freaking out," She explained. "We had a movie night last night. But come in, she's upstairs," Alya welcomed and shut the door once Chloé was in the house.

The three of them walked up the steps to Marinette's room, and Alya knocked a few times to let her know she was coming in. To their surprise, Marinette was sitting on her chaise with Adrien next to her. "Um...when did Adrien get here?" Nino asked.

"Just a few minutes ago," Adrien said. "I came through the balcony. It was easier," He explained.

Marinette rolled her eyes. "You need to stop doing that, by the way. People could see you, as Adrien  _or_  Chat Noir, and start to think things."

"Mari, people have been thinking we were dating since we became superheroes," Adrien reminded her. "Even before I started appearing in videos."

The other three were standing in Marinette's room, watching them. Alya nodded. "That's true. There is a whole section on the Ladyblog for fan theories about how Ladybug and Chat Noir are dating," She pulled out her phone. "The multiple kisses during Akuma attacks a few years ago kind of swayed the fanbase."

Marinette's face went red. "Alya," She stared at her. "Those were Akuma-induced. We've discussed this."

"Don't worry, Mari. What did we need to talk about?" Adrien giggled and changed the subject to save Marinette.

"Well, right now, the only bigger heroes Hawkmoth doesn't know is Rena Rouge and Carapace..." Marinette said. "Maybe it would be easier if we all knew so contacting everyone would be easier. I'm afraid that now that Hawkmoth knows, he's going to go all out to get us. And probably quick, while we're still figuring things out," Marinette explained.

Chloé and Adrien nodded. "But why are  _they_  here?" Chloé gestured to Alya and Nino.

Marinette looked to the two of them, who smiled widely. "No way!" Adrien shouted. "This is the best group ever! Marinette, did you really choose your two best friends?"

With an eye roll, Marinette looked back to Adrien. "Who would you have chosen? Probably Nino, and Chloé already has one, so..." She dragged out.

"Good point," Adrien nodded. "Good choices."

Chloé didn't say anything, as she was trying hardest not to be mean in front of Ladybug. It was crazy how much she held back now that she knows. "So," Chloé started. "What do we do with this information? Do we get our Miraculous back?"

"We don't know," Marinette said. "I haven't talked to the guardian yet; I'm a little nervous about what he'll say."

Alya piped up. "Do you have any leads on Hawkmoth?"

Marinette shook her head. "No, it's hard to track him down because the only time he's active is when Akuma's are tearing apart France," She explained. "My only lead was actually Adrien's dad, but that fell through when he got Akumatized."

"Why did you think it was him?" Alya asked.

"I saw Adrien with a Miraculous book, then found out it belonged to his father. Why would he have that? But I think I jumped to conclusions," Marinette shrugged.

Chloé stood up to direct attention towards her. "I've been akumatized while  _carrying_  a Miraculous. Surely someone can be akumatized; I'm sure he could even akumatize himself," She said. "Not saying it  _is_  Gabriel, but just saying that we shouldn't rule out people who have been akumatized."

"That's a good idea," Adrien nodded. "I have no clue, though. We should really talk to the Guardian soon, Mari."

Marinette nodded. "I'm just worried about what he'll say. He'll probably be disappointed."

Adrien shook his head. "Nonsense. I wouldn't worry," He told her. "So, let's do a full brainstorm session about how the heck we are going to handle this."

\---

The meeting lasted a few hours, and Marinette was still very stressed. They had some plans, but that relied on Fu thinking that giving Alya, Nino, and Chloé their Miraculous full time was a good idea. Hopefully, he agrees, especially since Hawkmoth won't hold back anymore.

Tikki had been comforting Marinette all day, and she was also exhausted. Once Tikki finally decided to rest, Marinette jumped on her computer. With a deep breath, she opened the most recent video she posted. She wanted to read the comments.

_Ugh, this is so stupid. Just kill Hawkmoth._

_I really thought we were about to get some inside info about being a superhero, but like 90% of these answers are vague as hell. I'm a clown._

_how did no one notice it was them...marinette and looks exactly the same in and out of superhero form tf_

_You guys need to calm down! She didn't have to make this video, but she did! We should be respectful enough to give them space and be thankful because THEY'RE LITERALLY PROTECTING PARIS??? I love marinette and adrien and a bunch of people would probably be dead if they didn't do what they do_

_Of course they kept it a secret! That's the base rule of ALL MOVIES! The less people know about the heroes, the more upper hand the heroes have, and it's for safety! Which is also probably why some answers_ _are_ _vague. I'm just happy Marinette isn't quitting YouTube, she's my favorite creator._

_im so happy for them and proud of them. they're gonna get through this and save paris once and for all_

_ok but, who are rena rouge and carapace? they're my goals_

_sooooooo...date_

_i wanna marry marinette_

_STAN MARINETTE DUPAIN CHENG we love a QUEEN_

_Marinette didn't have to make this video, and she did. It looked very hard and emotional for her, but she made it for her fans. I love how supportive her and adrien are of one another. I have nothing but support for her._

Though there were a few comments that upset her, the amount of support and love was overwhelming. She clicked to close the tab, shut off her computer, and went up to bed. Maybe she would finally sleep through the night after reading some sweet comments.

 


	26. Adrien's Buzzfeed Interview (Behind the Scenes!)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien has a surpirse in for him, in the middle of the night! He can't let it bother him, he has an important interview in the morning. And, of course, Marinette is coming along to get some behind the scenes scoop. Something is bothering her, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's december! this is exciting. FUN FACT someone actually gave me the idea for this chapter/video on ao3 a few updates ago! I know the interviews like this are a little different, but I pictured this so clearly in my head, I changed it around a bit. More action to come the next few chapters :)

Unlike Marinette, Adrien had been sleeping through the night. He's typically a light sleeper, so he usually wakes up to random noises in his room. He's been double-checking the locks on all his windows and even had Nathalie order new curtains that fully fit them in his room. Just in case Hawkmoth could see into his bedroom.

Plagg, on the other hand, was much more worried than Adrien. As a god, he didn't need as much sleep. He would only sleep in increments, though, concerned that someone could steal him away from Adrien.

The rare moment where both of them were asleep was when Adrien's bedroom door opened. It was dark in his room, but there was a little light coming in from the hallway.

Adrien heard the footsteps approach his bed, but thought it was only in his dream. A few moments passed before he realized no, that was real life. His eyes fluttered open, and he saw his father standing above him at the side of his bed, eyes fixated on Adrien's hand.

"Oh, father," Adrien sat up slowly, and Gabriel forced his eyes to look at Adrien's face. "You're home. Do you want to go talk now, or wait until morning?" As Adrien asked, he saw Nathalie peer around the open door to watch them.

Gabriel took a deep breath. "Let's go talk." Without another word, Gabriel turned around and walked out of Adrien's room.

"This should be interesting," Adrien said and got out of bed. "Come on, Plagg."

With Plagg in his pocket, Adrien found his father and Nathalie sitting at the long table. For once, he sat right next to his father and across from Nathalie at the same end. "You've been Chat Noir this whole time?" Gabriel asked, not looking at Adrien.

"Yes, father. I was chosen a few years ago, and Ladybug and I make a great team," Adrien explained himself.

"Of course," He nodded. "The Dupain-Cheng girl. I always knew there was something  _off_ about her."

Adrien perked up. "What?"

Gabriel shook his head. "I can't believe you went behind my back, Adrien. Sneaking out and putting yourself in danger? After you begged me to go to school, how much of it have you missed due to these fights?" Gabriel said.

"To be fair, everyone misses school when there's an Akuma. They want everyone to be safe from Hawkmoth when an Akuma is attacking the city," Adrien explained.

"I see," Gabriel nodded. "You should have told me."

Adrien looked down at his lap. "I'm sorry, father. But I couldn't. I couldn't risk putting you in danger, and I was afraid if I told one person, it would spiral out of control. Ladybug got that idea of me telling people out of my head really quick," He said. "It was kind of like a pact."

Gabriel still didn't look at Adrien. "Do you know who Hawkmoth is?"

"No, we're working on it," Adrien said. "I'm exhausted, can we finish this conversation tomorrow? I want to get some sleep since I have that big interview-"

"Yes, of course. Goodnight, Adrien. We'll continue tomorrow," Gabriel dismissed and waited for Adrien to leave.

Adrien shut his door and sighed against it. "That was...weird," Adrien announced.

"You bet it. I know your dad is creepy, but that was the creepiest he's been!" Plagg said. "I need some cheese after dealing with that conversation," Plagg flew over to the mini-fridge and grabbed a big slice of camembert.

\---

Marinette waited outside of the bakery with her camera, smiling wide when Adrien's car pulled up. She got in the back to sit with Adrien as his bodyguard began driving them to Adrien's interview. "How are you today?" Adrien greeted.

"I stood outside, and no one came up to me," Marinette said. "So that was nice. I was expecting to walk out and be swarmed."

"That happened to me a lot," Adrien laughed. "Just from being a model."

Marinette shrugged. "Yeah, a  _model_. That makes sense," She justified. "How are you? Excited?"

"My dad got home last night. It was an...interesting conversation," Adrien sighed. "He was upset I kept it a secret, and asked about Hawkmoth. We finished talking this morning, but all it did was upset me. But yeah, this interview should be fun," Adrien shook his head to make himself smile again.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Marinette offered.

Adrien shrugged. "Maybe later. I've got to keep myself happy for this interview. Do you want to start your video?"

"Oh, sure!" She smiled and turned the camera on. "Hi! I'm Marinette! I'm here again with Adrien-" She said and panned over to show him in the frame, a smile on his face, and he gave a wave, "And he invited me to get some behind-the-scenes of his interview."

Adrien nodded. "And it's going to be a fun one today! Some people from Buzzfeed are visiting Paris and asked me to do this interview, so I thought- why not? And I had to bring Mari, for obvious reasons," Adrien concluded. "I'm excited; we're almost there."

"I guess we'll tune back in when we get there!" Marinette said, and shut the camera off for the few minutes left in the car.

Only a few moments later, they arrived at the studio, and Gorilla waited to pull away until both of them were inside. He knew they didn't need the extra protection, but it was a habit, and he would always worry about them. Adrien and Marinette were greeted at the door with big smiles and welcoming faces.

"Adrien Agreste!" One of the men greeted in English. It was a good thing they both knew how to speak English...but Adrien wouldn't have agreed if he wasn't comfortable. "It's a pleasure to meet you, we're really excited to do this interview," He said, then realized Marinette was behind Adrien. "And Marinette Dupain-Cheng? Wow, a real treat to have  _both_  of you here!"

A woman appeared with wide eyes. "Wait...you guys are both here? This is amazing!"

Marinette shook her head. "I'm just here to get some behind the scenes for Adrien and to put on my YouTube channel after you guys upload the interview," She clarified. "Just act like I'm not even here."

"Also," Adrien interrupted. "I'm not sure what you guys have planned, but please don't bring up the Chat Noir thing. Marinette and I are really trying to keep it just to us who posts things, and I don't want it to-"

"No need to worry," The man cut him off. "We weren't planning on it, and honestly, we're still trying to figure out how this superhero thing even works."

Marinette chuckled. "Stick around for a few days, and you'll see," She said under her breath.

After a few more minutes of small talk conversation, they led Adrien and Marinette to where the interview would be recorded. It was a blue background, and they just told Adrien to stand because of "better posture." He understood, and stood on the small 'x' on the floor, looking right at the camera.

Marinette brought out her camera and started to record as they got everything set up. "Having fun, Adrien?" Marinette called for him to look at her.

"Oh yeah," He said, giving an enthusiastic thumbs up to the camera.

"Ready?" The man asked, and Adrien nodded as he looked back at the primary camera. At least she wouldn't have to subtitle this video. "Alright, first question: we know you're a model for your dad's company- what's your favorite part?" The man asked, and just as Adrien was about to answer, the door opened, and five puppies ran to him.

Both Marinette and Adrien gasped when the puppies came in. "It's a puppy interview?" Adrien squealed, sitting down to let the puppies jump all over him. "This is the best day of my life," He said, then looked back up as he held one of the puppies. "What was the question again?"

The crew chuckled as the man re-asked Adrien the question. "Oh! I love a lot of it. It's enjoyable to model, going to photoshoots, and just working, especially when my friends tag along. It's a lot of hard work, but definitely worth it," He clarified. "Oh my god, these puppies are the best ever."

"Do you get treated like a celebrity in school?"

With a puppy licking Adrien's face, he tried to answer. "No, not really. When I first came to school, people were excited, now we're all just normal friends and normal kids, we've just got a lot going on," He said in between giggles that came from the puppies. "I wish I could take one of these little guys home!"

"You do not need a puppy," Marinette scolded from the side, snickering behind her own camera. "Like you  _just_  said, you're too busy."

"Let me dream, Marinette!" He shouted back, holding the one puppy in front of him, and looking away from Marinette. "Plus, my dad wouldn't like a little trouble maker in the house."

The crew was loving seeing the interactions between Marinette and Adrien. "Maybe a hamster would be more suitable," Marinette smirked behind her camera.

Adrien shook his head, only slightly ignoring her. "Do we have another question?"

\---

_I just watched the BuzzFeed video and now marinette is posting behind the scenes?? i am not ok_

_they HAVE to be dating. the way they argue is so adorable, it's not normal??? ummmmmmmmm ship_

_adrien with puppies for an interview was too much for me to handle. You expect me to be better with a BONUS VIDEO? i mean i love it but i might be dead_

_i love that mari tags along to like all his events. friend goals. relationship goals._

_I'm just so, so happy that she's still posting videos. I was really worried she was going to stop posting altogether after what happened._

_They're really out here living their best lives. I stan_

_did the buzzfeed people freak out about ladybug and chat noir_

Marinette was also happy she could continue posting, but the comments became less enjoyable to read when she would  _always_  find the comments about their superhero personas. She figured out that she just needed to stop reading when she read a few, and take a break from the internet.

She took a deep breath as she went to her bed. How hasn't an Akuma come after her yet?

 

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I can't believe I uploaded it, but I did. Scary. I would love to know what you think about the story so far and if you would like to see more!! Thank you :)


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